Poppy
by Danica Napier
Summary: What if Petunia Dursley and Lily Potter had another sister named Poppy Evans? How would she change the fate of Harry Potter, the wizarding world, and most especially, Sirius Black? SB/OC, JP/LE, RL/NT, HP/GW, RW/HG. CANON PAIRINGS. AU: James and Lily live
1. Prologue

**Hi! It's been a long time since I thought about a new multi-chaptered story, especially since I still have many that I need to update and finish. However, I really like the idea of this story, and I hope you do too. Enjoy! **

Mrs. Calla Evans woke up to the sound of people shouting and to feeling herself being moved from one hard surface to the other.

"Calla, darling?" She tried turning her head to face her husband, Mr. Robert Evans, but she couldn't. Calla felt herself slipping from consciousness but just when she was about unconscious, she felt herself being jarred and she would wake again.

"What-" Calla started, but stopped when she heard how weak her voice was. "What happened?"

"We were swimming when your water broke and you passed out, so I took you here, and-" Robert was cut off by one of the nurses.

"Are you in pain, ma'am?" she asked Calla.

"Uh, no," Calla mumbled, when suddenly she had a contraction, and she screamed out in pain. "Never mind. Yes!"

"We have to move fast," the nurse said, and they sped down the hall and into a white room. Calla felt her eyes roll backwards, until she felt a warm hand on her head. Robert.

There was another jumbling of voices before she heard "Push!" Calla felt an excruciating pain in her abdomen before the world went black.

* * *

><p>"Calla?" Her eyes fluttered open and as she tried to shield her eyes from the sun shining through the window, she saw Robert holding a baby.<p>

"Is that…" she trailed off, but pointed to the baby. Robert smiled and nodded.

"Ours. Our third child," he said, smiling gently. "What should we name her?"

Calla smiled at hearing that it was a girl. "Another flower name, of course."

Robert laughed. "I wouldn't expect anything else."

"Do you like Begonia?" Calla asked. Robert shook his head. "Forsythia? Hibiscus? Pansy? Briar? Poppy?" His head snapped up at the last name. "Do you like Poppy?"

"Yes. Poppy Lynn Evans," Robert confirmed, and they both grinned at each other.

"Let me see her," Calla said, and he carefully handed their Poppy to her. "Oh Poppy, you're so adorable. And, oh!" Little Poppy Evans had opened her eyes, and Calla saw that they were the most brilliant of blues. Brighter than the sky in the middle of the day, and brighter than any star in the sky. Her blue eyes were as bright as Lily's green eyes.

"What?" Robert asked, looking concerned.

"Nothing, it's just her eyes," said Calla, looking into her daughter's eyes adoringly. Then she remembered. "Are Petunia and Lily still at your parents' house?"

"Yes, they'll be coming in the afternoon," he said. "We really didn't expect you to go into labor for another week, so I thought it would be okay to take a little vacation."

"A little vacation in the next town over," said Calla, and they laughed together.

"It still counts, considering that we live in the city," Robert defended himself, though he was still smiling. "But we should move to the countryside."

"No, I like the town we visited," said Calla, not wanting to live in the country. "The country is too far out and lonely. I want Petunia, Lily and Poppy to grow up with friends just down the street and neighbors surrounding them." She smiled at the thought of her daughters running around, playing with friends in the evening, while the adults watched their kids from their yards. People would be barbequing outside, and all around the neighborhood, the smell of food and the laughter of children could be heard. Calla smiled at the beautiful thought.

Robert seemed to be thinking the same thing, and he shook her gently to get her attention.

"That sounds wonderful," said Robert. "I'm guessing you want to move soon?"

Calla looked down and Poppy giggled a bit. "Absolutely."

* * *

><p>Two weeks later, at the Evans's apartment in London, everything was chaos. It wasn't Petunia or Lily, though. They were darling as usual. The cause of the chaos was little Poppy Lynn Evans.<p>

The problem with her wasn't how loudly she cried or screamed. It was what happened _when _she cried or screamed.

Calla had been washing the dishes and Robert had been playing with Petunia and Lily when Poppy started crying, and the water coming from the faucet somehow made itself spray Calla and Petunia, making Petunia scream savagely and temporarily blinding Calla because the dish soap went into her eyes.

Four days after that incident, Calla was vacuuming the floor when she accidentally stepped on Poppy's favorite toy, and when Poppy screamed, the ceiling fan fell and the power went out, just in their apartment.

Almost a week after that power outage incident was the last straw for Calla and Robert. Calla had been feeding Lily when Poppy threw a tantrum, and she started throwing her toys around, hitting Petunia, Lily and Robert. Then, a few minutes later, when Calla started cooking, still during Poppy's tantrum, the chicken caught on fire and burned half of the kitchen.

Calla knew that she couldn't keep Poppy, and she decided to put her in a foster home. She felt horrible at the thought of abandoning her, but if she kept her, Petunia and Lily could get more than just cuts and bruises. Besides, Petunia was two years old, and Lily was only a year old. They wouldn't remember Poppy.

So two days later, with Petunia and Lily being watched by their grandparents, Calla and Robert left Poppy at the foster home, and in their hearts, they knew they would never see her again.

**So, what did you think? If you wanna know why Poppy Evans can make all those things happen, you'll have to read the story! Please review! **


	2. Chapter 1

"And, and, uh…" Sybill Trelawney trailed off, not knowing what else she could say. She desperately wanted the position of Divination professor, but her seeing skills had failed her.

"Miss Trelawney, it is unfortunate that I must say this, but I do not think you are fit for the position," said Dumbledore, looking slightly disappointed that even though Sybill was related to Cassandra Trelawney, Sybill hadn't gotten Cassandra's skills as a seer.

Sybill was unable to say anything as she watched Dumbledore get up and start to walk away. She was on the verge of tears. She couldn't let him leave Hog's Head. He had to give her another chance!

"Wait!" Sybill cried, and she started to stand up when she felt something, a presence, take over her body, and she was unable to control herself. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies-"

Sybill felt the presence leave her body and she started choking, but was glad that she had control over her body again.

When she stopped choking, she looked up to see Dumbledore looking at her in wonder.

"My dear, did you hear what you just said?" he asked gently, and they both sat down at the table again.

Sybill shook her head. She knew that she had just given a prophecy, but she had no idea what she had said. Dumbledore repeated the prophecy for her and her already wide eyes widened.

"We must find out who the child is!" Sybill exclaimed.

Dumbledore nodded his head. "There are two babies that might fit. Neville Longbottom, Frank and Alice Longbottom's son, and Harry Potter, James and Lily Potter's son."

"Oh, Lily Evans married James Potter?" Sybill asked, surprised. "When?"

"That isn't important right now, my dear," Dumbledore said, standing up and offering her his arm. "Now, we must get you situated at Hogwarts, where you will work as the Divination professor."

"Oh, thank you Professor Dumbledore!" Sybill thanked him over and over until he finally chuckled and led her out of Hog's Head, knowing that even though she didn't, Severus Snape had heard the prophecy loud and clear.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Sybill finally rest her head on her pillow, feeling content. She had gotten her dream job, and now she didn't have to worry about rent. What a pesky thing it was.<p>

A few minutes later, she fell asleep, and she dreamed a most peculiar and prophecy-changing dream…

_Sybill was walking through Hogsmeade on a warm summer day when she felt herself get pulled in the direction of Hog's Head. She didn't want to go in, but she had lost control of her legs. She tried stopping herself from moving, but her legs kept walking. People were staring at her oddly. _

_She opened the door to Hog's Head and saw herself trying to make up a prophecy to Dumbledore. He politely told her that she wasn't fit for the job and started to walk away when she stopped him, and then she stiffened as the spirit entered her, and she spoke the prophecy. Sybill just watched, already knowing what the prophecy was, when suddenly, her other self went on with a part of the prophecy that she didn't say before. _

"_But there is another, who is of the same blood as the mother of the one born as the seventh month dies, who can take his place, just once, but at a terrible price… The one who gave her the power to defeat the Dark Lord will die."_

And then Sybill woke up.

* * *

><p>James and Lily Potter were worried. They had been summoned to Dumbledore's office, along with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.<p>

They Flooed into the headmaster's office, where they saw Sirius, Remus, Peter, Dumbledore and Sybill Trelawney, a woman who had been in seventh year when the Marauders and Lily were in their first.

"Professor Dumbledore," Lily greeted, and she smiled at the other Marauders.

"Hello Lily, James," said Dumbledore, smiling politely, but it didn't reach his eyes. "How's Harry?"

"Good," said Lily. "You wanted to see us?"

"Ah, right to business, then," said Dumbledore, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Miss Trelawney has made a prophecy that might involve your boy or little Neville Longbottom."

"Do you know which one?" asked Sirius, worried for his godson.

"We're guessing that it might be Harry, considering that Neville is pure-blooded." Dumbledore looked at James and Lily sympathetically.

"Professor, uh, Headmaster, what does the prophecy say?" Peter asked in his usual nervous way.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies, and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not, and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies," Dumbledore said solemnly. The silence in the room was ominous.

Remus was first to break the silence. "We should send Harry, James and Lily into hiding."

"Exactly what I was going to do, Remus," said Dumbledore. "I have already acquired a house in Godric's Hollow and charmed it to be invisible to Muggles. That is where you will stay with Harry until it is safe again."

"Will it ever be safe?" James muttered, but Dumbledore didn't pay attention to him.

"I have already shown Sirius the location of your new home. You may use side-along Apparition to get there. I will visit you in two days time. Hopefully you will be comfortable," said Dumbledore, and he Flooed out of the room.

"Guess he had to be somewhere," said Peter, and Sirius snorted.

Remus looked like he had to go somewhere, and he quickly put his cloak on. "I have to go. I'll see you all soon." He quickly Apparated away.

Sirius looked suspicious. "I wonder where he had to go."

James was about to agree when Lily spoke. "Bring us there, Sirius."

Both of them, and Peter, grabbed Sirius's arm and they Apparated to Godric's Hollow.

**You know what to do! Please review! Hahaha, that rhymed! Oh, and if you noticed that Sybill forgot to tell James, Lily and co. the last part of the prophecy, it's because she forgot it when she woke up. But don't worry, she'll remember eventually! **


	3. Chapter 2

**Hola! Right now, I am in Spain, but I can't resist the temptation to write. Also because I am stuck in the hotel because my dad is sick and my mom won't go anywhere if he doesn't go, because she doesn't think that I can find my way to Puerto Banus from the hotel by walking without Dad. I mean, c'mon, we're practically already in Puerto Banus, because it's in Marbella. Whatever. I don't think anybody cares about my problems, so here's the chapter! Here is capitulo dos (chapter two)! **

Lily Potter sat at the table, staring numbly out the window. She didn't know why, but for some reason, she felt off today. She felt depressed. It was like the energy and life had been sucked out of her, and she hated the feeling. It was exactly how she felt when she saw James crying because of her in the end of their sixth year. She had spent that summer thinking about him, and wondering if she might've been wrong about him. Which she was.

James had taken Harry out for the day, after Lily had insisted that she wasn't well enough to visit Sirius. Lily wished she'd been able to bring herself to see him, because she loved how good he was with Harry. She would've never expected Sirius Black to be good with children, but then again, he was like a kid himself, but not in an insulting way.

She sighed and put her legs up on the chair across from her spot at the table. She rolled her head back to face the ceiling, and the feeling of boredom increased. Suddenly, the phone rang, and she jumped up, glad that there was something for her to do.

"Hello?" Lily held the phone to her ear tightly.

"Lily?" It was Petunia Evans Dursley, her sister.

"Tuney?" Lily was shocked that she called. She clearly remembered Petunia telling her that she never wanted to see her or hear her voice ever again. "Tuney, how are you? How's Vernon and Dudley?"

"They're quite alright," Petunia replied stiffly. "How are James and Harry?" She sounded almost disgusted to say the names of Lily's husband and son.

"They're well," said Lily, talking quickly so she could ask Petunia more questions before she would hang up. "They're out visiting a friend right now. But what about you, Tuney? Are you well?"

"I'm fine, Lily, thank you," said Petunia, talking much slower than Lily. "Anyways, I called you for a reason. I'm letting you know that Mother's funeral is this Saturday at the church down the street from our old house."

"Mum died?" Lily managed to croak out. She had no idea that her mum had died. Tears started running down her face, but she asked, "How?"

"Car accident," Petunia said, and Lily heard some emotion in her voice this time. "I didn't find out till two days ago."

"I'm sorry," said Lily through her sobs. "But I'll be there, Tuney."

"I'm sorry too," Petunia said. "I'll see you then. Goodbye."

Lily hung up the phone before she slid down against the wall to the ground, crying.

* * *

><p>"We'll just Apparate there," said James. "I hope that Vernon doesn't see us, because I am not some magician! Ugh, doesn't he know about magic? Didn't Petunia tell him?"<p>

"I think she'll tell him eventually, unless she already did, but he's not saying anything," Lily replied, tying James's tie for him. Once she finished, she looked over to Harry, who was wearing a little tuxedo. "Did you take a picture of him?"

"Yes!" James called from the other room, and seconds later, he was hopping in from the hallway, one shoe on and the other partly on.

Lily looked at the clock and she gasped. "We're going to be late! Let's go!" She grabbed James and Harry's arms and felt herself moving through the air. Then, her feet touched down on soft green grass and heard a distinct popping noise before her vision cleared and she saw the church that she had attended every Sunday until she went to Hogwarts.

Harry let out a little cry, and James settled him down, while Lily looked over to see Petunia and Vernon walking towards them with Dudley in Petunia's arms. She had to stifle a laugh, because Dudley was already looking a bit chubby, even for a baby, and if Petunia and Vernon didn't stop spoiling him, Dudley would grow up to be as big as Vernon, which would not be a good thing at all. James seemed to see that too, but he had a harder time holding in his laughter. But he pretended to cough and push up his glasses as the Dursleys approached.

"I'm glad you could make it, Lily," said Petunia, her lips pursed. "James."

"Hello Petunia, hello Vernon," Lily said politely. "Dudley's adorable. I'll bet he'll be just as good-looking as his father when he grows up." Vernon straightened up at this and James had to turn the other way so they couldn't see him laughing silently.

"Why, thank you Lily," said Vernon, not paying attention to James.

"Let's go inside now." Petunia looked a bit angry. Lily and James followed Petunia and Vernon into the church, where they sat down in the front. Lily bowed her head, knowing she would be crying.

The service went by quickly, and now, some friends were speaking about the late Mrs. Calla Evans.

"She was a wonderful, kind woman," said Macie Anderson, Calla's best friend. "And she loved her daughters very much. She worked hard to give them what they deserve, which is a lot, considering how amazing Petunia and Lily are." Petunia straightened herself up, making her long neck even longer. Lily simply smiled at Macie before playing with her hands.

Next up was Calla's much younger friend and neighbor, Lorelei Davis Wood, and Lily shared a secret smile with James, because Lorelei was a witch, but she never had the chance to tell Calla about magic. Lorelei had a three year old son, named Oliver, who was already obsessed with Quidditch, like his father.

"Calla was a great friend, and a great mother," Lorelei said, winking at Lily. "She cared for her three daughters very much-"

"Three?" Petunia burst out. "There's only Lily and I!"

Lorelei, Macie and a couple others shared a look, and Lily was too shocked to say anything. She never knew that she had another sister. How could her mother not tell her? And she knew that it wasn't lie because Lorelei was the most truthful person she knew, besides Sirius, but only because he had no filter and said whatever he thought. And Remus. Lily had forgotten about him. It had been a while since they last talked. She shook her head and focused on the subject on hand.

"I'll tell you later," Lorelei mouthed to Petunia and Lily, and she continued talking about Calla, but Lily didn't hear. She was too busy thinking about where her other sister was now. Petunia seemed to be thinking the same thing, because she tapped Lily's shoulder and nodded at her. James put his arm around Lily, and she held Harry tightly in her arms.

An hour later, the church was empty, except for Lorelei, Petunia and Lily. Vernon and Dudley, and James and Harry had all gone home. Lorelei gave them both a small smile and gestured for them to sit down on a bench. Only Petunia sat down. Lily and Lorelei stood.

"So, as you now know, you have a younger sister," Lorelei said, and she sat down next to Petunia. "Her name was Poppy."

"Is she dead?" asked Lily.

"I don't know," said Lorelei, looking sad. "The only reason I know any of this is because I asked Calla why she was always upset on October fourth, and she said that she had a third daughter, Poppy, that she put in a foster home when she was only a few weeks old."

"Do you know why?" Lily was curious. She knew that her parents weren't the type to just leave their child at a foster home, so she wondered why they left Poppy at such a young age. Wherever Poppy was now, Lily knew that she didn't remember her birth parents at all.

"All Calla said was that weird things happened when Poppy got upset," said Lorelei, and she got lost in thought for a moment. "Till this day, I still wonder if she is a witch."

"So we have another freak in the family," said Petunia bitterly. "I wonder why Mother and Father didn't keep her if she was so _unique._" Petunia got up from her seat and left the church.

Lily closed her eyes for a minute, hoping that the tears that were starting to form would go away. She hated when Petunia mentioned that Mum and Dad loved her more because she was a witch. Lily knew that Petunia would never see that their parents loved her just as much as Lily.

Lorelei watched the door before turning to Lily again. "Calla said that Poppy was a danger to you both, so she had to let her go. But, before you start thinking bad thoughts about your mother, just remember, Calla would've done anything to protect you both, even if it meant giving up her newborn child. So don't remember your mother as the woman who gave her child up after just a few weeks. Remember her as a woman who would do anything for her children. She was a strong woman, just like you, Lily." She gave her a knowing look.

"I suppose you know about the prophecy then," said Lily, and Lorelei nodded.

"Dumbledore told everyone at the last meeting," she said, and Lily remembered wanting to go, but James had told her that she should stay home with Harry. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," Lily sighed. "But, I feel like a little girl. I don't want to be locked away in Godric's Hollow. I can defend myself, and so can James. And besides, we have Sirius, Remus, Peter and the Order to defend us if we can't. But I can't stand another minute in hiding. I want to be strong, like Mum, but right now, I feel like I'm constantly crying, and I hate it."

Lorelei gave Lily a reassuring smile. "Lily Lauren Evans Potter, I can tell you right now that you are not a little girl whatsoever. Look at all you've accomplished! And yes, I know you can defend yourself, but even the best of wizards and witches lose their battles. I almost lost Aaron in a battle with Lucius Malfoy and Severu-" She stopped when she saw Lily's eyes widen, but decided to continue, "-Snape and Yaxley just a couple days ago."

Lily sighed internally when she heard Sev- _Snape's _name. She didn't want to have to fight him, but if he attacked Aaron and Lorelei Wood and almost killed Aaron, then, her anger towards him increased. But also, she couldn't help but wish she was still friends with him, though that would be impossible, seeing as he loved her, supposedly (she had a hard time believing and trusting him ever since their fifth year, when he called her a mudblood). And besides, Lily would never love Snape the way she loved James.

"Is he alright?" Lily asked, concerned.

"He's fine," said Lorelei, giving a slightly amused and brave smile. "Let's just say that he's not a quitter, just like James. After all, he got you, didn't he?" They both laughed. "He's in critical condition, but he's hanging on, thankfully. Aaron would never die without saying goodbye to me and Oliver."

"I'm glad you're both alright," said Lily, and Lorelei stood up. They both walked over to the door, and Lorelei opened it, and a warm breeze flew past them and into the cold church. They both stood on the stone steps. "Say hello to Aaron and Oliver for me."

"I will," said Lorelei, taking out her wand. "You take care, Lily. Stay strong." She Disapparated away, and Lily smiled. She was thankful that she had been able to talk to Lorelei. Even though she was only twenty-nine, Lorelei was like a mother to Lily.

Just when she was about to Apparate back to Godric's Hollow, a familiar voice spoke from behind her.

"So. Lily Lauren?" She rolled her eyes and turned around to see James holding Harry behind her in the doorway of the church, smirking.

"Shut up, Potter," said Lily, smirking back.

"You too, Potter," said James, and his smirk fell off his face. "Wait a second, this doesn't work as well as it did when we were in Hogwarts."

"No," said Lily, smiling happily. "It works better."

**So, that's a little bit of humor/fluffette (fluffette- small bit of fluff) to finish off this slightly depressing chapter. What's also depressing is that I'm not in Spain anymore! But I'm also glad to be home. I probably wrote only half of this chapter in Spain, and the other half back home in Los Estados Unidos de America. Whatever. As for Aaron and Lorelei Wood, I used creative license and made them members of the Order! Please review! **


	4. Chapter 3

**Well, I really don't have anything to say here, so... Here's the chapter! **

The next morning, Lily woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. She looked over at her bedside table and wondered who was calling at seven thirty in the morning. James groaned but reluctantly put his glasses on and picked up the phone, which was on his bedside table.

"Hullo?" James yawned loudly and Lily stifled a laugh. "Oh, hello Petunia."

"Tuney?" Lily asked under her breath. She wondered why she was calling so early in the morning.

"Yeah," said James. "Wait a second." He gave the phone to Lily. "She says it's important."

"Hi Tuney," said Lily, trying to sound cheerful. "How are you?"

"Could you please stop calling me 'Tuney'?" Petunia asked, sounding annoyed. "We're adults now, Lily. My name is Petunia."

"Alright, Petunia," Lily sighed. "Why did you call?"

"I found out a couple things about our sister," said Petunia, and Lily sat up in bed.

"You did?" Lily was excited to hear about their sister. Poppy Evans was a mystery, and Lily Evans Potter has always loved mysteries. So has Petunia, though she would never admit it, which was why Lily wasn't that surprised that even though Poppy might be a witch, Petunia still wanted to find out more about her.

"Yes," said Petunia, clearing her throat. "Poppy Evans was never adopted into a family, and spent eighteen years in the foster system before running away. It is believed that she is in London now. It's not a lot, I'm afraid."

"It's enough," said Lily. "Enough to know that I want to find her."

"I'm not going to help you find her," said Petunia, and Lily was about to ask why when she added, "But tell me when you find her. I want to know if she's a freak like you or normal like me. Promise me you'll tell?"

"I promise," Lily said, and Petunia hung up. "James, today we'll be going to London."

"I'll bring Sirius, Remus and Peter too," said James. "It's been a while since all of us have done something together. But, why are we going?"

"I have another sister," said Lily, and James's jaw dropped. "Her name is Poppy."

"Wow," said James, his hazel eyes wide. "That's amazing. You would think that after having Petunia they'd stop having kids, but thankfully they were brave enough to have you."

Lily rolled her eyes. "And Poppy. I wonder what she's like. She's spent eighteen years with no family, and she ran away two years ago. I hope she's not already dead or living on the streets."

"Two years is plenty of time for her to get an apartment and a job and an education. I'll bet she's alive and well. You'll see, she'll be just fine, and you would be worrying about nothing, Lilyflower," said James, and he got out of bed. "Now, if you excuse me, I will feed Harry."

"You go do that," said Lily. "I'll get changed."

* * *

><p>"So, what exactly are we doing?" asked Sirius, yawning loudly, making Lily and Remus roll their eyes. "And do we have to do it so early in the morning? You've all interrupted my beauty sleep!" They were currently standing on the sidewalk outside of a Muggle hotel in London.<p>

"It's noon," said Lily. "Not morning. And you've had plenty of time to sleep, I'll bet."

"Nah, I was out with a lady late last night," Sirius said, and James laughed. "And Merlin she was beautiful. I think her name was Miranda."

"And that's why this Miranda will never go out with you again, 'cause you can barely remember her name," said James, and he handed Harry to Lily. "It's quite sad, really."

"It didn't used to be!" Sirius pretended to start sobbing. "What's happened to you, James? Your lovely Lily's ruined you!"

"Hush up, Black," said Lily, smirking. "Anyway, let's get started."

"Do you have any idea where she'll be?" asked Remus, and Lily felt her cheeks burning. He saw right through her.

"No." The Marauders groaned and Sirius glared at Lily. "But maybe by walking around the Muggle part of London, we'll spot her."

"You do realize that the chances of finding Poppy like that are very slim, right Lilyflower?" James asked, sighing. "You don't even know what she looks like. I imagine it'll be hard to find someone that you've never met before and have just found out about a day ago."

"Well, if she's mine and Petunia's sister, she has to look something like us!" Lily protested, and Harry let out a little cry as she shook him unintentionally. She had always talked with hand movement. "And you all know what my mum and dad looked like. So maybe we'll find her. Just hope."

"Fine," said James, and Remus, Peter, and eventually Sirius, reluctantly agreed.

"Thank you," said Lily, smiling gratefully. "You're great friends, all of you."

"We know," said Sirius, flipping his wavy black hair in a flirtatious way. "And very handsome." Remus rolled his eyes, and Peter let out a small giggle that resembled a rat's squeak.

"Let's just go, before it gets dark. I want to be able to rest before the full moon tomorrow," Remus said, and they started walking.

"We're looking for Lily's sister?" Sirius asked after just a few minutes, after James quickly filled him in. "Oh Merlin, another Evans!"

"Shut up," said Lily with a secret smile that only little Harry could see. He let out a giggle before closing his emerald green eyes.

* * *

><p>Four hours later, they had walked through a good part of London, but they still hadn't saw anyone who looked like any of the Evanses. Finally, they decided to go to the market, so James or Lily wouldn't have to shop later, and were walking through the parking lot when they saw a short, skinny, dirty blonde haired girl walk towards a shiny Mercedes-Benz. She looked over her shoulder, as if she was making sure no one was watching, and took out a key from her pocket. She jammed the key into the keyhole and tried turning it when Lily finally caught a glimpse of the girl's face, and she gasped.<p>

The girl resembled her late father, Robert Evans, and was a mixture of her mother and Petunia. She wasn't particularly pretty, and had sharp features and a seemingly permanent sour look on her face, like she had eaten a lime. Her eyes were a brilliant blue, and when her eyes met Lily's, she knew that this girl had been through a lot. She wasn't pretty at all, really, but something made you look at her. She was stunning, but not pretty, if that made sense.

Lily realized that she had been staring, and the girl noticed too, because she scowled.

"What are you looking at?" she snapped.

James nudged Lily, and Remus, Sirius and Peter shared a look. Lily collected herself and cleared her throat to speak.

"Are you Poppy Evans?" Lily asked, her voice shaky. The girl didn't look like she was going to talk. "Please tell me. Is your name Poppy Evans?"

"Yes. My name is Poppy Evans, unfortunately," the girl, Poppy, said. "What's it to ya?" Poppy had a sharp voice to match her sharp features, and Lily noticed that she had a long scar running down her cheek.

"My name is Lily Evans Potter." She watched as Poppy started to realize. "I'm your sister."

"The sister who had a perfect life with the perfect parents," said Poppy, the corner of her mouth curving up into a sinister smirk, which quickly turned ugly and vicious. "Here to rub it in? Well, guess what? I'm not interested." Poppy turned away from Lily and tried turning the key in the keyhole, but it didn't work.

"Is that even your car?" Lily asked, not believing that it could be hers after hearing Poppy talk. Lily knew that Poppy was twenty, but to have that much hate and anger in her made Lily feel guilty, even though she couldn't be. She did nothing to Poppy.

"Of course not!" Poppy laughed, but it was dark. "You think I have money for this? Not with my pay. I just need new wheels. My old car was complete rubbish."

"You have a job?" Sirius asked incredulously, and Poppy turned to him. For some reason, Lily noticed that Sirius kept his eyes on Poppy for much longer than necessary.

"Of course I do," Poppy snarled. "What do you think? I'm a homeless bum with no job?" James and Sirius shared looks and Poppy glared at them. "Whatever. Why do you even care?"

"Because I'm your sister," said Lily, and Poppy laughed again, this time in sadness, anger and disbelief.

"And why does that matter? I went eighteen years without anyone. No friends, no family. I was shunned because I was a _freak_. But, you know what? That's life. I just got the worst end of it." Poppy tried turning the key again, but this time, the car alarm went off, and her eyes widened. "Shoot!" She started running.

Lily (holding Harry), James, Sirius, Remus and Peter followed Poppy out of the parking lot and down a narrow alleyway. She stopped in the middle though, and before they could say anything, she started rummaging through her purse, and took out a knife, a gun, a can of pepper spray and another key. Lily's eyes widened, and she was filled with terror for her, Harry and the Marauders. She didn't think that she would have a killer for a sister.

Poppy seemed to notice them all freeze, and she let out a wheezing laugh. "Oh, you guys are hilarious! I'm not a killer! Please! Seriously, my God! I got you all so scared right there! Insane!" She continued laughing, while the others simply stood there awkwardly. Finally, after at least five minutes, she controlled herself, and she smirked at them. "Not much of laughers, are you? Well, whatever. You'll be going now anyway."

"Is this where you live?" Lily asked, looking around the dirty, narrow alleyway.

"Yeah," said Poppy, noticing Lily's worried expression. "Don't worry. Most of the guys are babies. Couldn't shoot a gun if their life depended on it. The other few though, heh."

"Do I just knock on the door?" asked Lily. "I'll be coming by to visit again, maybe next week."

Poppy looked like she was about to protest, but then she let out a soft sigh, and the sinister and sour expression from her face disappeared. Lily saw that she looked much prettier when she was like this. But as soon as the thought formed, Poppy smiled, but even though it seemed lighthearted, it could be interpreted as sinister.

"Knock on the door and ask for me, but only if it's the guy with only two teeth. If it's not, tell them that you'll be back later for business. They'll forget about you by the end of the day anyway," said Poppy, and she examined Lily. "Or maybe not. You're pretty, and they always remember the pretty ones. Just say that you're looking for Poppy to do business with. They know not to mess with me." She opened the door and almost disappeared inside when Lily stopped her.

"Who exactly do you live with?"

Poppy's blue eyes twinkled. "You need not worry, sister." And the door slammed, leaving Lily, Harry and the Marauders in the dark alley.

**And you finally meet the infamous Poppy Evans! What did you think of her? I didn't want her to be the blonde-haired, pretty and popular girl that Sirius would probably go out with, and I didn't want her to be like Lily, because even though I love Lily Potter, I felt like I didn't want another 'lovely Lily'. I wanted a unique character, one that has had a bad life, but obviously, with all their help, she'll find herself in a new, better life. And change the fate of the wizarding world forever. Please review! **


	5. Chapter 4

**Hi! Thanks a million for the reviews! It means a lot! And I'm glad that you like Poppy! I've never quite written a character like her before. She's unique, truly. Anyway, here's the chapter! **

Exactly a week and a half later, Lily decided to see Poppy. She had been dying to know more about her, but she couldn't quite convince James to let her go by herself, so therefore, a week and a half later, Lily was waiting for James to come home, so she, James and Sirius could go visit Poppy. She didn't get why Sirius was so insistent on going with them, but she didn't stop him. It was extra protection if they ever met Death Eaters on the way.

"What do you think of her? Poppy, I mean," Lily said to Sirius, who looked a bit excited, but was trying to hide it. "Different, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Sirius agreed, but then he gave her a funny look. "Why, you don't like her?"

"She's a bit, well, I don't know," said Lily, sighing. "I don't know how to describe her. But I'm curious about her. That is as much as I can say."

"Side-along?" asked James, holding Harry to his chest with one arm. "How about you and Sirius do side-along, and I'll take Harry. I'll meet you in the alley." He disappeared with a crack. Sirius held his arm out to Lily, smirking as she raised her eyebrow.

"Such the perfect gentleman," Lily teased, when they too Apparated to the alley. Instantly, the light from the Potter house was gone, and the dimness of the alley settled. "So dark here."

James startled them all by knocking on the door, and Lily was about to take Harry from him when Sirius tapped his foot impatiently while they waited for someone to answer the door. James tried knocking twice more when the door suddenly swung open, and they saw a grinning man with only two front teeth standing in the doorway.

"Who're ye all?" he asked, his voice raspy. His dark eyes seemed to see right through them, and Lily remembered feeling the same when Poppy had looked at her.

"We're looking for Poppy Evans," said James, speaking up. "Is she here?"

"Yeah, she's here," the man said, looking at them suspiciously. "Ye here for business?"

"No, no," said Lily, standing in front of James so the man could see her. "I'm her sister."

"Pop's got a sis?" The grinning man laughed hysterically. "And you actually want to see her? I've seen it all."

"Shut up, Francis," said Poppy, quieter than Lily remembered. "Or I'll knock the rest of your teeth out." Lily and the two Marauders must've had horrified looks on their faces, and Poppy laughed hoarsely. "You know I would."

"She would," Francis said to Lily, James and Sirius, and snorted. "She's got a bloody good right hook."

Poppy stood straighter, looking proud of herself. "Thank you, Fran."

"How many sodding times have I told you not to call me that, Pop?" Francis asked angrily, the grin still on his face. Poppy started to get angry.

"Well, I'll stop calling you Fran if you stop calling me Pop, okay?" Poppy glared at him. Francis finally sighed and agreed. "Good. Now, what're you doing here?" She turned to Lily, James and Sirius.

"We came to visit you," said Lily, letting a smile smile on her face. "Is that alright with you?"

"Sure," Poppy sighed. Lily decided that she should ask why she seemed so down. The Poppy she remembered talked a lot more.

"Is something wrong?" Lily asked.

Poppy was about to answer when Francis spoke. "She's a lot quieter when you get to know her. She was angry yesterday when she couldn't get that car." Poppy nodded.

"But don't go thinkin' I'm soft," Poppy hissed. "I'm far from it."

"We would know," James muttered, and Poppy looked like she was about to punch him before she let out a wheezing laugh.

"I like you," said Poppy after she finished laughing. "You Lily's hubbie? That'd make us brother and sister-in-law."

"Yeah, it would," said James. "I'm James Potter."

"I'm Sirius Black, love," Sirius said, smiling suavely at Poppy. "To what do I owe the pleasure of spending time in the presence of such a lovely flower?" Poppy raised an eyebrow.

Francis looked as if he'd just seen a ghost. "Hey, Poppy, do you mind gettin' us some Scotch?"

"Why don't you get it yourself?" Poppy asked, annoyed. Francis gave her a look and she left without question, but not before looking back at a dark-haired Marauder with a grin on his face.

"Why did-" Lily stopped when Francis shushed her.

"Are ya'll magic?" he asked, his eyes wide. "Please tell me. S'all right, I know about magic."

"Are you a wizard?" James asked.

Francis shook his head. "No, I'm a Squib."

"Who're your parents?" Sirius asked, looking at Francis closely. "Are they-"

"Hello cousin," Francis said to Sirius. "And my parents are Cygnus and Druella Black. I'm pretty sure you know my sisters, Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa."

"You're a Black?" Lily gasped.

"He ain't black, he's white," said Poppy, snorting. She came up from behind Francis with a tall bottle of wine. "Sorry Francis, the boys already finished our Scotch supply. Morons."

"I'll have a word with 'em, don't you worry, darlin'," said Francis, back to his normal self. But he gave Lily, James and Sirius a look that told them that they would talk later. "I'll leave ye lads and lasses to it." He spun on his heel and walked away.

Poppy was silent for a minute. "Alrighty then. To the living room." They walked down the hallway and into a room crowded with huge, tough-looking men. "Get out!" Poppy barked, and they all started getting up when one with a gruesome scar on his forehead pointed to Lily, James, who was still holding Harry, and Sirius.

"Who they?" he grunted.

Poppy groaned. "My sister, her husband, I'm guessing their baby, and their friend."

"You have sister?" the man grunted again, and Poppy huffed.

"Just get out already." His eyes hardened, but he left, and the others followed him.

"What's the baby's name?" Poppy asked, turning around to face Lily and James.

"His name is Harry," Lily replied, and she hesitantly asked, "Do you want to hold him?"

"God no," Poppy snorted. "I hate babies. They're annoying, smelly and they're too fragile. Fragile isn't something good when you're in this life."

"What do you mean by 'this life'?" asked Lily. Poppy stared into Lily's eyes long and hard before answering.

"The life of a criminal." Poppy let a terrible smile onto her face. Lily swallowed, but knew that the answer that Poppy gave was the one that Lily had been expected all along. Lily didn't even notice that Poppy was laughing at her. "My God, is it really that surprising? You think that I could've gotten a normal job and lived with normal people and have money? Well guess what, sister. You're wrong."

"I just..." Lily trailed off.

"Never mind," said Poppy, shaking her head. "Whatever. So, what are you?"

"Excuse me?" Lily asked.

"Your job? Duh." Poppy rolled her eyes, and Lily swore that if she didn't stop, her eyes would roll back in her head.

"Oh, I'm not working right now," said Lily. "I'll work when Harry's older."

"What about you, James?" asked Poppy.

"I'm an Au-"

"Detective," Lily answered quickly, knowing that James was about to say Auror.

Poppy raised her eyebrow. "Really? You sound unsure."

"I'm a detective," James confirmed, looking at Lily. "So is Sirius."

"If you're detectives, why aren't you turning me in? You work with the po-po, don't you?" Poppy stood up and glared at them. "If you don't turn me in, you're both crooked. Corrupted."

"I didn't know what you were, and I still don't," said Lily. "But they won't turn you in. We're family, Poppy."

"Fine," said Poppy, sitting down again.

"What exactly do you do, Poppy?" Lily asked, leaning forward.

Poppy leaned forward also, her blue eyes sly. "Do you know anyone who wants some mariju-"

"You're a drug deal-" Lily began to shout when Poppy laughed.

"It's just to get enough money so I can get my own apartment," said Poppy. "Believe me though, the business isn't as bad as you think it is."

"But that doesn't make it any better!" Lily protested. "What you're doing is illegal!"

"Doesn't matter," said Poppy, waving her off. "I need some dough, and this is the only way to get it. Besides, I only sell it. That's it."

"That's the worst part! If you just in the shipping part of it you'd be fine, but you're selling it! And where do you sell it? On the streets?" Lily couldn't believe that her own sister sold drugs for a living.

"No Lily, I sell marijuana in a closet," said Poppy sarcastically.

"What's mari-" Sirius started when Lily gave him a sharp look and Poppy looked at him as if he was stupid.

"So on the streets? Have you ever been caught?" Lily took deep breaths in and out to calm herself.

"No, because if you're good at it, you won't get caught," said Poppy, grinning. "I almost did, but that was when I first started about two years ago. Though the chase through the city was exhilerating."

James and Sirius shared amused looks, and Lily knew exactly what they were thinking about. They were thinking about the time when they were chased by the police while on Sirius's flying motorbike. Lily remembered when they ditched the bike behind her house and hid in her garage for the night. Luckily, her parents weren't home, and neither was Petunia, so she could easily hide them.

"Poppy! We got work to do!" Francis yelled from outside the living room. "You can see 'em next weekend!"

"'Kay!" Poppy shouted, and she smirked at them. "Just knock." She got up and left the room without another word.

"I guess we just go then," said James, standing up. "Didn't even get a bloody goodbye."

"It's fine, she's busy," said Sirius, running a hand through his curls.

James laughed. "The only reason you're fine with it is 'cause you fancy her."

"Do not!" Sirius protested, and Francis poked his head in the doorway.

"I'm sorry cous', but you have to go," he said. "We got some important customers comin' in only a matter of minutes."

"We'll be going then," said Lily, and they were rushed down the hallway to the front door.

"Remember to come back," said Francis, looking over his shoulder but winking at them. "I don't know if you know it, but you're really important to Poppy."

Lily smiled. "We are?"

"Yes," said Francis. "She really enjoys your company. She won't show it, of course, but she does."

"I'm glad she doesn't hate us," said Lily, sighing with relief. "I didn't think that she would like us very much because of, uh, you know. Our situation."

"She's not completely over that, obviously," said Francis. "I don't think that I would be either. She's only acting like she naturally would. Though you do make her a bit insecure. She's usually very confident, though not to the point of being conceited."

"Why do I make her insecure?" asked Lily. She didn't understand.

"Because you're very pretty," Francis started cautiously, looking at James to make sure he wasn't angry. "And she's not, well, she's not the best-looking girl in the world. She's never been like this before though, because there aren't many girls in the business that she could talk to."

"Oh," Lily said. "Well, we'll see you soon Francis. And tell that to Poppy for us, please."

"I will," said Francis, and he started to close the door when Sirius stopped him.

"Do you want to see Andromeda?"

Francis grinned. "Yes. I heard she's married now. To a Muggleborn, right?"

"Right," said Sirius. "She has a daughter named Nymphadora now."

"How about I bring you to her next time we come to see Poppy?" asked Sirius.

"Sure," said Francis, and he closed the door, but not before Lily heard him say thank you once more.

**So, what'd you think? Now you know what Poppy does! Anyway, I'm planning on changing this story from Lily's POV to Poppy's or Sirius's POV from now on, though I might have the occasional chapter in Lily's POV. And, obviously, I do not know one thing about drug dealing, so don't flame because of that! Thanks! And please review! **


	6. Chapter 5

**Hi! Thanks for the reviews! And to Sakura Lisel, thank you for the question. I sent you a message containing the answer. Anyway, this chapter is in Poppy's POV, though I might switch to Sirius's sometime in the chapter. Here it is! **

Poppy woke up the next morning, feeling unusually lighthearted. She always felt groggy and slow in the morning, like there was nothing for her to do. Like there was nothing for her to look forward to.

This time was different.

Ever since she met Lily Potter, her sister, she felt like there was a reason to keep living, besides working to get an apartment.

Lily was still a mystery to her. Poppy knew that there was something more to her than a stay at home mom. They must have thought that Poppy was stupid if she couldn't tell. She was trained to read emotions. After all, she wasn't able to show many of her own.

For as long as Poppy knew, weird things happened when she was too emotional. And she had a feeling that that was why her parents gave her up. She was a freak. And the reason Lily was kept was because she was perfect.

Lily Potter, with her long, red hair, shining green eyes and angelic voice. Poppy didn't want to be, but, she was jealous of her newly-found sister. But it was easy to be. After all, Lily was pretty, she had a good-looking husband and a good-looking son, and had good friends. What did Poppy have? Nothing. Nothing except Francis, her room, and drugs because of her job.

But maybe, just maybe, if she was lucky, she could be family with Lily and James. And Sirius. And the other two men that she had only met once.

"Poppy! Breakfast!" Francis yelled from the stairs, and Poppy groaned and got out of her bed.

"Coming!" She quickly pulled on a pair of dark jeans, a tank top and a sweater. She ran down the stairs and was surprised to see Francis standing in the kitchen with a plate stacked with waffles in his hand.

"Who's that for?" Poppy asked suspiciously.

"For you, Pops," said Francis, grinning a little too widely for it to be genuine.

"Uh, thanks," said Poppy, taking the plate from him. "Why?"

"Because, I need you to do me a favor," said Francis, and Poppy groaned.

"What do you want this time?" she asked, starting to get mad. Last time Francis needed her to do a favor for him, she almost fell off a building.

"Do you know what my last name is, Poppy?" Francis asked, his eyes on her as he took a seat across from her at the kitchen table.

"Black, Francis Black," said Poppy, and she remembered who also shared that last name with Francis. "Are you related to Sirius Black, James and Lily's friend?"

"Yes, he's my cousin," said Francis.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Poppy asked angrily, and she felt the energy running through her, and she knew something was going to happen if she didn't suppress that energy. She clenched her fists and ground her teeth together in order to calm herself and keep the energy in. It worked, and she finally relaxed herself, but looked at Francis and saw that he was looking at her strangely. "What?"

"Nothing," Francis said, shaking his head. "Whatever. Yes, he's my cousin, but I need you to find him."

"Why?" asked Poppy, hoping that he would tell her if she stared at him. It worked on the kids at the foster home. They had been scared of her eyes too. They said that they were too blue. She thought that they were wimps, to be scared of eyes. But when she looked into the mirror herself, she knew that they were too blue to be natural.

"Because I have a sister that I haven't seen for years, and he knows where she lives," said Francis, and Poppy knew that she was the first one that he had revealed this to. And she was touched, though she laughed at herself for using such a girly and sentimental phrase.

"What's her name?" she asked curiously.

"Andromeda," said Francis, smiling wistfully. "Or Andy, as I called her."

"Pretty name," Poppy murmured, swirling her fork around in the maple syrup. "Anything else you want to tell me? Any more sisters?"

"Yeah, Bellatrix and Narcissa," said Francis.

"You and Sirius come from a weird family," Poppy commented. "Just look at all of your names. Sirius? Francis? Andromeda? Bellatrix and Narcissa? What's next, Draco and Scorpius? All of you are named after stars or constellations, or just have old names."

"Not a weird family, a strict one," Francis muttered bitterly. "A very old and prejudiced family."

"Sounds like you don't like them at all," said Poppy, and Francis laughed humorlessly.

"I was disowned because I wasn't like them, and I didn't share their views." Francis closed his eyes for a minute before opening them and getting up. "So, you'll do it?"

"Yeah," said Poppy. "Where will I find him?"

"I told him to go to Grimmauld Place at noon," said Francis, starting to walk out of the room. "Meet him there, in front of 11."

"Alright," Poppy sighed, then she turned to the door. "Wait, Francis."

Francis turned around and looked at her expectantly.

"Is Sirius like you? Disowned?" Poppy thought the wait was excruciating.

"Yes." Francis was about to walk through the door when he turned around. "And he's a good man because of it."

Poppy was left alone in the kitchen, and suddenly, the silence that she used to love was replaced by a feeling of loneliness, and she quickly ate her waffles so she could be surrounded by sound.

* * *

><p>It was a wonderfully warm, sunny day in London. She loved the rain, yes, but she loved the sun too. Poppy was thankful that she had worn a t-shirt instead of a sweater. It was really warm.<p>

Luckily for Poppy, Grimmauld Place was only a ten minute walk from where she and the boys lived. Even though she hated to admit it, she was happy that she was going to see Sirius. He was… nice.

She scoffed in her head, and she turned the corner and started walking down a narrow street, which was a shortcut to Grimmauld Place.

He was more than nice. He was handsome, and he seemed like someone who loved living life. But her face quickly turned sour. It wasn't like she would ever have a chance with him. She was Poppy Evans, short, skinny, poor, ugly girl, and he was Sirius Black. Even though Poppy didn't know much about him, from what she gathered about his family from Francis, he was from a wealthy and powerful family. And even though he was disowned, she knew that he didn't care. Just watching him, she knew he probably didn't have a care in the world.

And there he was. He was standing across the street from 11 Grimmauld Place, looking handsome as ever, and oh God, her heart was beating faster. She had only seen him twice, and he was already affecting her this much. She wanted to slap herself.

He didn't see her walk up to him. His gray eyes were staring off into space, and she was entranced, but she snapped herself out of it.

"Sirius." She forced herself to look into those enchanting gray eyes.

"Poppy!" He was grinning at her. "You came!"

"Is that so surprising?" Poppy asked, and was surprised when her voice didn't come off as harsh as she had meant for it to be. Instead, she sounded curious. Curious was bad.

"I didn't think you would come if Francis told you to," said Sirius, and she nodded.

"He gave me waffles. I had to come," she said, and she made herself smile, and even though it was forced, he still laughed, and she immediately loved his bark-like laugh.

"You seem different," said Sirius, cocking his head to the side and looking at her.

"Maybe I'm in a good mood today," she suggested, smirking, her voice regaining its sharpness. She was happy about that.

"Maybe," said Sirius. "Do you want to go to the park?"

"Sure," said Poppy, and they started walking away from Grimmauld Place.

"It's a nice day," Sirius commented a couple moments later, and Poppy nodded.

"It is," she said, watching him. "So, you and Francis. Cousins."

"Yeah," said Sirius, sighing. "I've known about him since I was little, because he was blasted off the family tree, and I saw his name." His eyes widened like he had revealed too much.

Poppy saw, but decided not to mention it. "Wow, your family's harsh. What'd he do to get 'blasted' off the family tree?"

Sirius hesitated, and Poppy internally smirked. Now she knew that Francis and Sirius were hiding something. She intended to find out.

"It's fine. I don't really care anyway," said Poppy, shrugging, but inside, she was snickering.

"Here we are," said Sirius, sounding glad that they weren't on the topic of Francis's disownment anymore.

Poppy knew this park. She didn't come often, but sometimes, she would sit on the bench and think. This time, it would be to talk.

"Let's sit," said Sirius, pointing to the bench just off the gravel path.

"Alright," Poppy said, and they walked over to the bench and sat down. "Did you want Francis to come?"

"Yes and no," said Sirius, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head in a relaxed position. "I want to talk to my cousin, but I also want to be able to talk to a lovely flower like you by myself."

"Lovely flower?" Poppy snorted. "Yeah right."

"Are questioning your loveliness?" Sirius asked, playfully but also seriously.

"I'm questioning your intelligence," said Poppy, turning to face him. "I'm anything but lovely."

"I beg to differ," Sirius announced, grinning down at her. "I think you're lovelier than Lily."

"That's such a lie!" Poppy tried not to smile, but she did anyway. This man was making her go soft. She should've punched him in the face after that last remark, but instead, she blushed. "Flattery will get you nowhere."

"Obviously it's getting me somewhere, because you're blushing," Sirius pointed out, and Poppy raised an eyebrow.

"You must feel so intelligent," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Actually, I do," he said, sitting up proudly. "I do feel intelligent."

"That's good for you," said Poppy, smirking at him, but she meant those words. She meant them with everything she had.

* * *

><p>"I'll see you again, right?" Sirius asked as he walked her down the familiar alley.<p>

"If you want," said Poppy, and she took her keys out of her pocket. "You can tell Lily and James that I said hi. Oh, and Harry."

"I will," said Sirius. "Tell Francis that Andromeda said hello, and that she misses him."

"Okay." Poppy nodded. "I'll see you later, I guess. Sometime."

Sirius waved to her and started walking down the alley towards the main road.

Just when she was about to open the door, people started yelling from inside, and Poppy's eyes widened. And then there was a gunshot.

"Poppy!" Sirius started running back towards her.

Gunshots filled the air, and they seemed endless. The door opened and Francis fell onto Poppy, and they both collided with the ground. She felt her arm crack, and she looked up to see Sirius holding a dark stick in his hand. He grabbed her hand and wrapped it around Francis's before taking her other hand. Her vision blurred but she could make out Sirius looking down at her, and then she felt an odd sensation of flying through the air and being pulled through a tight tube before landing on soft grass.

* * *

><p>SIRIUS'S POV<p>

She let out a breath slowly, and Sirius knew that she didn't feel like she was in touch with the world around her. He felt bad about having to force her through Apparition, but he had to. It was for her and Francis's safety.

"Poppy…" Sirius started, but trailed off. He turned quickly and was relieved to see that the lights were on. He had Apparated to his cousin Andromeda's house, not knowing who else he could go to, besides James and Lily, but Andromeda used to be a healer at St. Mungo's.

"Where are we?" Francis asked, trying to get up.

"Andromeda's," said Sirius, and he looked back at the house before he heard Poppy speak for the first time since they had arrived. And he knew what was coming. He would have to tell her about magic.

"Sirius, what the hell did you just do?"

**So, what'd ya think? I know, it's cruel to just leave you hanging like that, but I promise to update within one to three days. Promise! Please review! **


	7. Chapter 6

**Hi! Well, I told you that I'd update soon, and here I am, keeping my promise! Anyway, here's the chapter! Oh, and this is now in Poppy's POV!**

"_Sirius, what the hell did you just do?" _

Poppy got up as quickly as she could, and immediately felt pain in her right arm. She knew that she probably broke it as soon as she and Francis had hit the ground.

"Sirius!" she practically screamed. He wasn't answering. For the first time in years, Poppy felt scared. What was Sirius? Was this what he and Francis were hiding? That he had some sort of power, like teleportation?

"Poppy..." he said again, but didn't finish. He looked slightly scared.

"Where are we? What are you?" The questions were multiplying in her head. "What were you holding? How did you do that? What are you?"

"Poppy, this is something that we have to discuss inside, not out where Muggles can hear us," Sirius said slowly.

"What is a Muggle?" Poppy asked, starting to hyperventilate. "Why do we have to discuss this inside? And whose house is this?"

"This is my cousin Andromeda's house," said Sirius.

Poppy tried breathing in and out, hoping that nothing would happen. She clenched her fists and tensed herself before she was sure.

"Alright then," said Poppy with forced calmness. "Let's go inside, and you'll tell me everything."

"Agreed," Sirius said, and he helped Francis up before leading them to the door and knocking. "Andy! Open up, it's Sirius!"

The door opened, revealing a beautiful, brown haired woman who was at least twenty five years old. Poppy knew that this was Andromeda. She smiled when she saw Sirius.

"Sirius!" She hugged him before seeing Poppy and Francis. "Francis?" She looked at her older brother in shock. "Francis!" She pulled him into a tight hug, and started crying with joy. "It's been so long! Please, come in!"

She opened the door all the way and let them inside.

"Who's this, Sirius?" Andromeda asked, looking at Poppy with a small, polite smile.

"Poppy Evans." Poppy held out her hand, and Andromeda took it without hesitation.

"I'm Andromeda Tonks," she said, and Poppy tried smiling. It had been a long time since she needed to use her manners.

"Nice to meet you," Poppy said stiffly. "You have a lovely home." Which was true. Andromeda's house looked very neat, and they were only in the foyer.

"Are you related to Lily Potter?" Andromeda asked, looking at Poppy closely.

"I'm her sister," Poppy sighed. "Newly-found sister."

"Your eyes are the same shape as hers," said Andromeda, smiling gently, before turning to Sirius and Francis. "You can make yourselves comfortable in the living room. You too, Poppy, but I just have to get some Skele-Gro from the basement. I'll get Ted and Nymphadora."

"What's Skele-Gro?" Poppy asked sharply as soon as Andromeda left. "Does she think I'm one of you?" She was glad that she was able to revert to her normal self so quickly.

"Probably, since you're Lily's sister," said Sirius. "Let's go sit down." He led her and Francis to the living room, where there were two black leather couches and a fireplace. When they got there, there was a tall, blonde haired man with a large grin on his face and a little girl with shoulder-length pink hair.

"Hey Ted!" Sirius said cheerfully. "Hello Nymphy!"

"Don't call me that!" she screeched, her hair slowly turning red. "I like to be called Tonks now!"

"Your hair!" Poppy pointed to it, and to her horror, her voice betrayed how scared and ignorant she was.

"Who're you?" Ted asked. "I'm Ted Tonks, and this is my daughter, Nymphadora Tonks, or just Tonks, as she likes to be called."

"I'm Poppy Evans," she said, feeling like she was about to faint at any moment.

"Lily's sister?" Ted asked, and Poppy nodded weakly. "Are you a witch?"

Poppy's nostrils flared with anger. "Excuse me? I'm most certainly not a witch, and how dare you insult me when I only just met you! I may be as ugly as a witch, but that doesn't mean you can just say that to my face, especially when I'm injured and I don't know where I am and I don't know about half of the people in this room!"

Ted looked confused, and Poppy was angered by how thick he was. How dare he just insult her like that, and in front of his daughter too!

The energy was running through Poppy's veins, and she couldn't stop it this time. It was too strong. As soon as the energy burst inside of her, the mug that Ted was holding broke, spilling coffee all over the place. The lights in the whole house started flickering on and off, and one of the windows shattered, sending glass flying.

"What the hell?" Francis looked at Poppy. "Did you do that?"

But she couldn't answer. She felt her knees give out, and she crashed to the floor, unconscious.

* * *

><p>Poppy's eyes fluttered open, only to quickly shut when she saw how bright it was. She opened her eyes again a minute later, after finally having adjusted to the light.<p>

She sat up and looked around the room. The walls were painted a bright pink, and there were toys and dolls and comic books everywhere. There was another bed on the wall opposite of the bed that Poppy was in. She knew that this was probably Nymphadora's room. Or Tonks's. Whatever she preferred to be called.

Then she remembered what happened. She remembered what Sirius did, and she remembered Nymphadora's hair changing from pink to red.

Poppy threw the covers off of herself and got out of bed, but shrieked in pain as she realized that her arm was still broken, but was somehow bandaged up. Andromeda must've bandaged her arm while she was unconscious.

"Oh thank goodness you're up!"

Poppy whirled around to see Andromeda coming towards her with a bottle in her hand. "I need to give you some Skele-Gro."

"What's Skele-Gro?" asked Poppy, her voice cracking. "Are you trying to poison me?"

Andromeda tried not to laugh, but eventually she did, and almost dropped the bottle of Skele-Gro. Poppy hated being laughing at, and her eyes narrowed.

"Alright, fine, you're not trying to poison me," said Poppy, crossing her arms over her chest. "But what exactly does this Skele-Gro do?"

"It grows and or repairs bones," said Andromeda, pouring a small amount of the thick liquid into a glass cup. "It'll be painful, but by noon or maybe mid-afternoon, your arm will be good as new."

"Alright," said Poppy cautiously, taking the cup from her and drinking the Skele-Gro slowly. She tried not to gag, but she did and the Skele-Gro ended up on the floor. Poppy's mouth hung open. "I'm so sorry! It's just, it tastes awful!"

"I know it does," said Andromeda, smiling at her sympathetically. "But you have to drink it anyway. I'll pour you another glass, but this time, you have to swallow it. And don't worry about the mess, I can clean it up."

"Thanks," said Poppy, her cheeks red with shame. Andromeda poured more Skele-Gro into the cup and this time, Poppy downed it without a problem, except her throat burned. She felt like she had just swallowed her own vomit, it tasted and burned that bad.

Suddenly, she felt like there were a million splinters sticking out of her right arm, and her eyes watered in pain.

Andromeda knew what she was feeling. "I'll give you a pain-relief potion. Follow me downstairs and I'll give you some breakfast too."

Poppy started to follow Andromeda down the stairs when a question popped into her mind. "Am I sleeping in Nymphadora's bedroom?"

"Yes," said Andromeda. "Francis has the guest room, and Sirius went back to his apartment, but he'll be back around noon with James, Lily, Remus and Peter. And Harry. Don't worry though, Nymphadora is fine with you in her room."

"Oh, alright," Poppy said as they stepped into the kitchen, where Ted and Nymphadora were.

"Good morning!" Nymphadora said happily.

"'Morning, Nymphadora," Poppy said, smiling tiredly, and Nymphadora's hair turned red again as she got angry.

"Don't call me Nymphadora!"

Poppy blinked. She wasn't fazed by any of the craziness anymore. Mostly because she decided that she wanted to stay ignorant.

"Alright then, sorry Tonks," said Poppy, and Nymphadora- no, Tonks, smiled.

"It's okay, Miss Poppy," she said.

"You can just call me Poppy, Miss Poppy makes me sound important, which I'm not." Poppy sat down at the table, where there was already a plate with bacon and toast waiting for her.

Ted, Andromeda and Tonks were silent as Poppy ate her breakfast. Poppy loved silence, but she absolutely hated awkward silences.

"I'm sorry about last night, Poppy," said Ted sincerely. "I didn't mean that you were a witch that way."

"It's fine." Poppy gave a tight-lipped smile. "I'm sorry about the window, the mug and the lights."

"That's fine too," said Ted. "But, are you a witch? Did you go to Hogwarts?"

"What's Hogwarts?" Poppy asked, her eyebrows scrunched together.

"She's a Muggle, Daddy," said Tonks. Ted and Andromeda shook their heads.

"Have you always been able to do that?" asked Andromeda.

"Yeah," said Poppy. "Why?"

"Maybe we should wait to explain," Ted suggested to Andromeda. "We'll wait for Lily, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter."

"Explain what to me?" Poppy snapped. "I'm right here, you know. I can hear you!"

"We know," said Andromeda, sighing. "But this is serious. You've seen what we could do. From Nymphadora's hair, to the Skele-Gro, I know that you know that this isn't normal. That's why we're waiting for people that you know better to explain to you what all of this is. I know it'll sound like it's not real, but it is."

"Do you think you can handle it?" asked Ted. "Remember, once we tell you, you can't say anything to anyone about this."

"Does Francis know?" asked Poppy.

"Yes, he's one of us too, well, a bit different," Andromeda said. "But do you promise not to tell?"

"I promise," Poppy sighed, and she knew that what she was going to find out would change her life forever.

* * *

><p>"Do you want to play with me?" Tonks asked, looking up at Poppy with violet eyes.<p>

"No thank you," said Poppy, trying not to be rude to the little girl.

"Oh alright," said Tonks, disappointed, but then she perked up. "Tell me when Remus gets here." She was about to leave Poppy alone in the living room when she stopped. "And the others." Then she quickly ran out.

Andromeda laughed from the kitchen.

"What are you laughing at?" Poppy asked.

"Did you hear her?" Andromeda asked, still amused. "She's always more excited to see Remus than her own cousin, Sirius."

"Maybe she has a little crush on him," Poppy suggested, and both of them laughed. "It's totally normal."

"I suppose," said Andromeda, smiling. "She'll get over it eventually."

"Exactly," said Poppy, and then the doorbell rang. "Is that them?"

"Probably," said Andromeda. "I'll get it." She disappeared from sight for a little bit, and Poppy heard a bunch of voices. She decided to go greet them at the door with Andromeda.

"Poppy!" Lily hugged Poppy fiercely. "It's good to see you again!"

"Uh, you too," said Poppy, forcing herself to smile. Again. She hated that she was being forced to smile a lot more. And it started as soon as she met Lily Potter. She felt herself start to get self-conscious, especially when she felt Sirius's eyes on her.

"Poppy, this is Remus Lupin," said Lily, gesturing to a tall, sandy-haired man with a prematurely lined and scarred face. Then Lily pointed to a short man with a rat-like face. "That's Peter Pettigrew."

"Hi," said Poppy, and inside, she knew that they were slightly hesitant in front of her. No matter how hard she tried to seem pleasant, it never came out that way. Whenever she tried smiling politely, or even genuinely, it always came out as sinister. She was the ugly little sister of perfect Lily Potter.

"Remus!" Tonks jumped into Remus's arms, her hair flashing pink, green, purple and yellow before settling on bubblegum pink. Remus blushed, making James and Sirius laugh hysterically, while Peter let out a small giggle.

Lily took Poppy's hand and smiled. "Do you want to go to the backyard?"

"Sure," said Poppy, shrugging.

"We have a lot to talk about," said Lily as they went outside. Poppy was starting to hate summer. It was too warm and humid for her taste.

"Like the fact that you guys are extremely weird," said Poppy.

"I guess you can say that," Lily laughed, and she sat down on the patio, beside the pool.

"Do you want a chair?" asked Poppy, raising her eyebrow.

Lily shook her head. "Nah. The patio's good."

"Alright then," said Poppy, and she plopped down beside Lily. "So, are you what Sirius and Andromeda and Ted are?"

"Yes," said Lily, smiling softly. "Andromeda and I are witches, and the guys are wizards."

"Like, with magical powers?" Poppy was trying hard not to sound amazed.

"Yeah," said Lily.

"And you have wands and hats and brooms and stuff?"

"Wands, yes," Lily said. "We also have brooms. Hats, sort of. Some hats, like the Sorting Hat at Hogwarts, are magical."

"What's Hogwarts?" asked Poppy.

"A wizarding school," Lily replied. "That's where all wizards and witches in England go. There's also Beaxbatons, which is in France, and Durmstrang, which is in Norway. Or maybe Sweden. I forgot."

"Wizarding schools," Poppy repeated. "Strange."

"Not really," said Lily. "They teach you different spells and about the history of magic and how to fly and Apparate."

"You go to school for only one year?"

Lily burst out in laughter. "Merlin no! For seven years!"

"Merlin?" asked Poppy before she realized. "Oh, wizarding version of God. So you say 'Merlin no' while I would say 'God no'."

"Exactly," said Lily, smiling happily. "You know, you're taking this a lot better than I thought you would."

"Why? You thought that I'd be freaking out and would be all scared?" Poppy asked fiercely. "I'm not a baby! I can handle anything!" She lifted her chin haughtily, and Lily shook her head.

"It's not that I didn't think that you could take it," insisted Lily. "It's just that most Muggles are shocked."

"What's a Muggle?" asked Poppy, annoyed. Her good mood was now officially gone.

"Muggles are non-magical people," said Lily. "You're a Muggle, and so is Petunia, but it's not a bad thing."

"Who's Petunia?" Poppy asked.

"Oh, I never told you about Petunia!" Lily put her palm to her forehead in realization. "Petunia is our older sister, older than me."

"Oh great, another sister," Poppy groaned. "What's next, three brothers?"

"No, it's just us," Lily assured her.

"Wait, so Francis is a Muggle too?" asked Poppy.

"No, he's a Squib," said Lily, and Poppy gestured for her to continue. "A Squib is a person who is born from a wizarding family but has no magic."

"Okay…" Poppy wasn't sure what to ask, but then she got an idea. "So what are you if our family are Muggles?"

"I'm a Muggle-born witch," said Lily. "James is a pure-blood, which means that he was born into a family who are fully wizards. Sirius and Francis come from one of the oldest pure-blood families in the world. The Blacks are very famous and powerful."

"But I don't think I'm a Muggle," said Poppy, sighing. "I do have some sort of magic, and that's why I think I was given up."

"What?" Lily looked shocked. "If you're a witch, you would've been found and taken to Hogwarts, so-"

"No!" Poppy practically shouted. "When I get really angry, things happen! Last night, when I got mad that Ted called me a witch, his mug broke, the lights flickered, and the glass in the windows shattered!"

Lily looked conflicted. "I don't know what you are. I guess you're not a Muggle, but you're definitely not a witch either."

"Oh great, I really am a freak of nature," said Poppy, her nostrils flaring again. "This is why you were kept and I wasn't. Because even when I was a baby I was a freak! Because I was nothing like you, the lovely Lily, who never caused a problem in her life and knows exactly what she is and has everything perfect and wonderful! But not me, because I'm Poppy Evans and I'm not a Muggle, I'm not a witch, and I might not even be human!"

The energy burst from inside of Poppy and the water in the pool suddenly rose higher and higher until it crashed back down, creating a large splash that drenched Poppy and Lily.

But Poppy didn't care. She huffed and went back inside the house and out the front door. She started walking down the street by herself, not knowing where she was, but knowing that she had to get away for a little bit. Besides, maybe it was all just a lie. Lily had never proved that she was a witch, so maybe they were just trying to trick Poppy. But Poppy wasn't stupid. They couldn't fool her. And tomorrow, she would prove that they were lying to her.

After all, there was no such thing as magic. Poppy Evans would know that, wouldn't she? Because if there was magic, her life would be totally different. She would have enjoyed life instead of wanting to end it.

**What did you think? This is the longest chapter that I've written for this story! I'll try to update tomorrow or Wednesday! But if I have enough time, I can try to crank out another chapter by tonight! Probably not, though. Anyway, please review! **


	8. Chapter 7

**Hi! Sorry for not updating when I said I would, but I was waiting for more reviews. Thank you, ladyyuuki16 and jeremiah123 for reviewing the seventh chapter! I don't want to sound like I don't appreciate the favorites and alerts, but even just a simple review makes me very happy. Anyway, here's the chapter!**

Poppy marched back towards the house, not caring that she had told herself tomorrow, determined to prove them guilty of trying to trick her into believing that they were 'witches and wizards'. Maybe once she proved them guilty, she would wake up, and it would all be just a dream. Then she could go home by tonight, Francis or no Francis.

She flung the front door open, ignoring the burst of pain from her arm. She realized that it wasn't broken anymore, and that it was only bruised now, but she ignored that too. She was right about everything. If she wasn't, well then, everybody would laugh at her like back at the foster home, and she didn't want that. She had enough of that for a lifetime.

"There you are, Poppy!" Lily's green eyes lit up when she saw her sister, but Poppy pushed past her and to the living room, where Sirius, Francis, Ted, Andromeda, Tonks, Remus, Peter, James and Harry were.

"Tell me you're all lying," Poppy demanded, knowing that she sounded like a brat, but once she was proved right, she didn't have to worry about that anymore. She could get on with her normal life.

"What would we be lying about, dear?" Andromeda asked, and Poppy glared at her.

"Obviously you're lying about wizards and witches and magic. That stuff isn't real. You all just think that you can trick me easy because of who I am, and what I've been through. Well, guess what. I can see through all of your lies," Poppy hissed. "You can't fool me. And you really think that I'd just accept this all without proof? That's rich."

"Poppy…" Lily trailed off. "You want proof? Do you want proof of magic?"

"Yeah, that'd be great, _sis_," said Poppy, tapping her foot impatiently.

Lily sighed and took her wand out of her back pocket. She pointed her wand at a book that was on the coffee table in front of the sofa. "Wingardium leviosa!" The book was now hovering a couple feet in the air. Then, with another flick of Lily's wand, the book dropped back onto the coffee table. "Is that enough proof?"

"No," said Poppy, amazement starting to leak into her voice. She cursed herself. Why did it all have to seem so real? What did they do for a living? Work for a magician? "What else can you do with your so-called magic?"

"This," said Lily, and she pointed her wand at the book again. "Accio book!" The book zoomed towards her and stopped just before the tip of her wand. She took the book in her hands and smiled slightly at Poppy.

Poppy swallowed, and she tried to stop her hands from shaking in anger. She didn't want to believe just yet. She wasn't that gullible.

"Poppy, how do you not believe magic when you have magic yourself?" Lily asked, her green eyes betraying her confusion.

She didn't know how to answer that. She never thought of herself as having magic. She always dismissed it, having more important things to think about. She never once thought about an explanation for why she could make those things happen. All she knew was that she was born with it, and that was it. That was why she had been bullied for the first eighteen years of her life. But now, all because of Lily's question, she was starting to wonder. What was she?

"Do you believe us now?" Andromeda asked quietly from beside Tonks. "We were never trying to trick you."

She hesitated for another minute. Was it real? Or was it a dream?

_If it was a dream, it'd be a nightmare, _her conscience told her. _Since when have you ever had a dream that was good?_

_Maybe this could be considered a dream. I mean, it's not like I'm being made fun of, as usual, _she thought to herself sadly.

_I can assure you that this is as real as you, _her conscience said. _Just believe. _

So she did. Poppy Evans believed. Lily Potter was telling the truth. Lily was a witch. James was a wizard. Sirius was a wizard. Francis was a Squib. Everyone standing in the same room as her had magic (excluding Francis). And maybe, she had magic too.

"I believe you," Poppy sighed. "You're all magical."

Lily smiled. "Thanks for believing us, Poppy." Tonks's hair turned from light pink to bright pink in happiness, and Poppy pointed to her.

"Are you using magic to change your hair color?"

Tonks giggled. "No! I'm a metamorphmagus!" Her hair suddenly grew down to her elbows, and it became dirty blonde. Her eyes turned a brilliant blue, and her pretty, smiling face changed to a sinister, smirking face. Poppy gasped. Tonks looked exactly like her. She had gotten everything from her heart-shaped face, her blue eyes, her dirty blonde hair, and even the long scar on her cheek.

Poppy cringed at the sight. It was worse than looking into a mirror.

After seeing how disgusted Poppy looked, Tonks changed back to her normal self.

"Metamorphmaguses can change how they look," Lily explained. "But they're very rare. Tonks is very special." Tonks grinned up at Lily.

"Yeah, okay," said Poppy, and she looked at Tonks sternly. "Please don't change into me again. It was horrifying."

"Sorry," she apologized, looking truly sorry. "Can I use your eyes again?"

Poppy was a bit put off by the question, but then she understood what Tonks meant. "Sure. My eyes are fine. They're the only part of me that isn't ugly."

Sirius looked like he was about to object to that, but Lily spoke.

"There's also one more thing," she said, and she looked at Remus before looking at Poppy again. "You've heard of werewolves, right?"

"Yeah," said Poppy, and she realized that Remus was looking at her nervously. "You're a werewolf? Does it hurt?"

"Yes," said Remus. "A lot. But it's bearable."

"Wow, I've met a metamorphmagus and a werewolf, and I've now learned that magic is real. This has been a weird day," said Poppy.

"Yes, I bet it has," Lily agreed. "But now that we've told you about magic, you should know that our world isn't as great as it seems right now."

"What could possibly be bad in your magical world?" Poppy asked, a bit sarcastically. She couldn't help it. She assumed that because they were witches and wizards, they had no problems, and that they lived an easy life. She was about to be proven wrong.

"We're in a wizarding war," said Lily solemnly. "Against the Dark Lord, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort."

"Voldemort," Poppy repeated, thinking. "Will of death in Latin."

"What?" James and Sirius both looked confused.

"Voldemort means will of death in Latin," said Poppy, her eyebrow raised. "Vol means will, de means of and mort means death. Duh."

"I didn't know that," said Ted, giving Poppy an impressed look. She shrugged.

"His name holds true," said Lily sadly. "He wants every Muggle-born witch or wizard dead."

"Why?" Poppy asked. "Because he's racist?"

"He is," said Ted. "He thinks that purebloods are superior to Muggle-borns, or Mudbloods, which is an insult that pure-bloods say to wizards or witches like Lily and I all the time."

Poppy felt bad for Lily and Ted. She would've never thought that racism carried into the wizarding world from the Muggle world.

"Wait, you said that you're in a wizarding war?" Poppy asked.

"Yeah, we're in the middle of one," said James, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Just a month ago, right before Harry was born, there was a witch that Lily, Sirius, Remus, Peter and I knew named Marlene McKinnon. She was a pureblood, and so was her whole family, but they were 'Mudblood sympathizers', as Death Eaters called them, and she and her whole family were murdered."

"Wow," said Poppy. "Wait, what are Death Eaters?"

"They're Dark wizards that work for Voldemort," said Lily. "They're evil."

"My own sister is a Death Eater," said Andromeda, sighing. "If you ever hear the name Bellatrix Lestrange, you better watch out. She's very dangerous. And her diminishing sanity just adds to her lethality." Tonks's hair turned black at the mention of her aunt.

"You know what, we don't have to talk about this now," said Sirius, standing up and walking over to Poppy. "I'm going to take you out on the motorbike."

"What if I don't want to?" she snapped. She didn't like it when people told her what they were going to do without her permission.

"You're coming anyway," he said, and he led her out of the house and towards the street.

"Let go of me!" Poppy struggled to get her arm out of his firm grip, but he didn't let go, and they stopped in front of a 1959 Triumph Bonneville T120. After having spent a couple years with Francis, who loved motorbikes, she knew a lot of different names of motorbikes, much to her annoyance.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Sirius asked, looking at his motorbike with love in his gray eyes.

Poppy felt a surge of jealousy towards a motorbike, of all things. "Yeah, she's wonderful. You should probably put her on a diet, though, she's looking a bit large."

Sirius howled with laughter, and he handed her a helmet. Poppy knew it was immature, but she stuck her tongue out at the motorbike. At least she could make him laugh.

"Alright then, into the sidecar!" Sirius said cheerfully, and she immediately let out a squeak in protest as he put her arms around her and picked her up.

"No! No!" she yelled, but was laughing at the same time. "I don't want to go in the sidecar, I'll look stupid!"

"Nobody's going to pay attention to you," said Sirius, sighing exasperatedly as he put her down. "Fine, where are you going to sit?"

"Behind you, obviously," said Poppy, rolling her eyes. "At least I don't look as childish."

"You're impossible!" Sirius grinned at her. "But you're still cute."

"Cute?" She raised an eyebrow at him, and was thankful that she had already put on the helmet so he couldn't see her blush. "That's not how I would think anybody'd describe me."

"I'm not just anybody," said Sirius, flipping his curly hair. "I'm Sirius Black, and I'm the only one to have taken Poppy Evans on a motorbike ride."

"Don't be so cocky about it," Poppy muttered as he got onto the motorbike. Once he was on, she got on behind him.

"Make sure you hang on," Sirius said, and she reluctantly put her arms around him, thanking every deity in existence that he couldn't see how red her face was. She hoped that he couldn't hear her heart race through his jacket. She wished that she something thicker than a knit sweater on.

Just when she was getting used to leaning against him, the motorbike's engine roared to life, and she almost fell off because it startled her so much. He only laughed and they shot forward, zooming away from Andromeda and Ted's house and down the street. It was already nine o'clock at night. Poppy remembered how she had walked down here and through the neighborhood for a few hours before going back to the house.

They stopped at the stop sign, and while they waited for the cars to pass, Poppy asked, "Are we close to London?"

"Just a couple minutes away," Sirius replied. "That's where we'll be going."

Poppy tightened her grip on him as they got ready to go again. "You better thank your lucky stars that my arm is now healed from that awful stuff."

Sirius chuckled. "Andy gave you Skele-Gro?"

"Yeah," said Poppy, thinking of its disgusting taste. She was shaken out of her thoughts when Sirius revved the engine and they started moving again.

The wind chilled her, but somehow, she couldn't bring herself to care. With her arms around Sirius, and the lights of the cars and the houses flying by her, everything seemed perfect. All her anger from earlier that day had disappeared, and it was replaced by the inevitable feeling of weightlessness and exhilaration as they drove through the night.

A few minutes later, just like Sirius said, they were in London. There wasn't too much traffic, and Sirius was able to weave the motorbike in between the cars and trucks.

They were just passing through a part of the city that she walked through everyday when Sirius suddenly sped up.

"Sirius, what are you doing? You're going to get us killed!" she yelled, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hear her if she spoke normally because of the wind. "Sirius!"

She felt his back shake slightly, and she knew that he was laughing. They were speeding down a narrow street that was a dead end because of the river that was at the end.

"Sirius!" she screamed, and just as they were about to hit the rail, she felt the bike lift into the air, and she closed her eyes tightly. When she opened them again, they were flying at least ten feet above the ground. "We're flying!" She could barely believe it.

"Are you scared?" he asked, and she shook her head.

"No!" she shouted, and she could imagine him grinning at her.

"Good! 'Cause we're going higher!" Sirius yelled, sounding so happy that she had to smile. His happiness was infectious to her.

They started flying higher and higher, and she looked down at London in wonder. The lights from the city looked absolutely beautiful from their place in the sky.

"Do you believe in magic now, Poppy?" he asked, and she let out a deep breath before answering with a smile on her face.

Even though she had already admitted to believing in magic, she knew that he was talking about a different kind of magic. This magic was only one that he could bring to her.

"Yes," she whispered before shouting it. "Yes!"

Sirius laughed in response, and her heart swelled with happiness. The magic was swirling around her, and running through her veins. It wasn't like the energy that she tried to keep inside of her. This magic was triggered by his laughter, by his smile, by him altogether, and as they flew up towards the moon, she knew she wouldn't mind being in that moment forever.

**Aw, what a cute ending, if I may say so myself! Anyway, if you're wondering where this story is going, just wait! The plot thickens in the next chapter (hopefully)! You remember the second part of Trelawney's prophecy? That will be coming to light soon! There will be a time break between this chapter and the next, but it's only so you can get to the juicy part faster! Please review! **


	9. Chapter 8

**Hola! Ugh, it's Sunday. School again. And I have a lot of homework due. School is like a large, dark rain cloud looming overhead. Hahaha, poetic! Anyway, the first part of the chapter is in Lily's POV, but then it switches back to Poppy's POV! Enjoy!**

A month later, plus a few days, was the beginning of October. Lily Potter had seen Poppy almost every day since she proved magic to be real to her. And she was happy that she did.

She saw how Poppy had changed from the time that they had first met till now. It was almost something of a miracle. The Poppy that she had met trying to steal a car was an angry, sinister girl with a bad temper. Lily wasn't trying to insult her, but it was true.

Now, Poppy still had that same temper, but not as bad as before. She was still as snappy as ever, but Lily had a feeling that given a couple more months with Sirius, he could change that.

Speaking of Sirius. Lily didn't know whether to laugh or to be angry with him, but all she knew was that he was in falling in love with Poppy, if he wasn't already in love with her. She had never seen him so happy since Hogwarts, and it was the way he acted with her. As if she was the only girl in the world.

In a way, Lily was happy that she knew exactly who Poppy was falling in love with. But, it was weird knowing that her sister was in love with her husband's best mate. But in the end, the happiness for Poppy and Sirius was more than her anger, so she decided that they were a good couple and didn't think about it anymore, just assuming that they would get together soon.

"Lily?" James came walking into their room, where she was sprawled out on the bed, Harry asleep in his crib.

"Hello, James," said Lily, sitting up and smiling at him tiredly, running her fingers through her long red hair. "How are you?"

"Fine, but we have to go," James said, looking a bit upset. "Dumbledore has summoned us to his office. We have to be there in a few minutes."

"Bugger," Lily muttered, and she got off the bed and smoothed her shirt. "I'm ready. Thank Merlin I already changed. I was going to meet Poppy at Andromeda's house in two hours."

"You can still meet her," said James, taking Harry gently out of his crib. "We'll be back in plenty of time."

"Alright," said Lily, smiling slightly. "Let's go. We'll Apparate outside his office."

"Meet you there," said James, smirking at her, and he Disapparated with Harry.

She huffed but then shook her head with a smile on her face and Disapparated from their house in Godric's Hollow.

She landed beside James and Harry, and James quickly said the password before they went up the stairs to Dumbledore's office, where Sirius and Peter were standing, but no Remus.

"Where's Moony?" James asked, and Lily mouthed the question to Peter, who shrugged.

"I don't know," said Sirius, answering James. "But I haven't seen him a lot lately. I think he's hiding something. Something big."

"Remus is still the same man you know him as," said Dumbledore from behind Lily, and all of them jumped in surprise. "He's just going through a difficult time right now. Just give him some space and patience, and I promise you that he'll come back to you."

"Why did you call us here?" asked Sirius, looking a bit annoyed, and Lily had an idea why.

"Patience, Mr. Black," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling, and Sirius bit back a growl. "I have some news, and I'm not sure whether you'll find it good or bad."

"What is it?" asked James.

"There's a second part of the prophecy," said Dumbledore, sighing. "Miss Trelawney heard it in her dream, but failed to remember until a couple days ago."

"What does it say?" Sirius asked.

Dumbledore cleared is throat before speaking. "But there is another, who is of the same blood as the mother of the one born as the seventh month dies, who can take his place, just once, but at a terrible price… The one who gave her the power to defeat the Dark Lord will die."

"So it's a girl," said James before his eyes lit up and he turned to Lily. "Lily! It could be Petunia!"

"Or Poppy," Sirius murmured, when his eyes widened and he frantically shook Lily's shoulders. "It's Poppy!"

"Poppy?" asked Dumbledore.

"My younger sister," Lily explained. "She has some sort of magic, but she's not a witch."

"Does she know about magic?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Yes," she said. "We told her about a month ago."

"Well, I am not sure whether Miss Poppy is the one mentioned in the prophecy, but it is highly probable, considering that Miss Petunia is a Muggle."

"We have to protect Poppy!" Sirius was practically ripping his hair out. "If Voldemort finds out about this new part of the prophecy, he'll try to kill her!"

"He doesn't know about her, most likely," said Dumbledore. "Have her stay wherever she is now. If he does find out, I'll find Poppy immediately and send her into hiding with James and Lily."

"I'll be staying with her," said Sirius protectively, and Lily grinned in her head. "I usually just Apparate there after work, but I can probably make Andromeda's couch my bed from now on."

"Whatever you want, Mr. Black," said Dumbledore, laughing a bit. "You're all free to go, as I have a staff meeting taking place right now."

"I'm sorry to keep you, Professor," said Lily politely, "but how long will James and I have to stay in hiding?"

Dumbledore thought for a minute before answering. "Until we know for sure that Harry is safe from him." Then he Disapparated out of the room, leaving them all to ponder his words.

* * *

><p>Poppy lounged back against the black leather couch of Ted and Andromeda's house. She had stayed there for about a month now, much to Andromeda's satisfaction, who, Poppy realized, loved having guests, but was a bit obsessed with cleaning. Francis was also staying there, but had been back to their place in the city.<p>

The only thing that he told Poppy about what happened in London was that one of their customers was unhappy about something, and opened fire.

She was waiting for Lily to come with Harry. She was starting to like babies more, since she wasn't living the life of a criminal anymore.

But she had no job. Nobody was going to hire a twenty year old lady who ran away from her foster home and never had a formal high school or college education. She would have to try to find a job, for everyone's sake. She knew that she couldn't stay at Andromeda's forever. It was the same for Francis, though he could stay longer because Andromeda was his sister.

She shook her head, wanting to think positively for once. She knew that she was way different just a month ago, but she never realized how depressed and angry she had been before she met Lily Potter. Lily had changed her life for the better. Of course, not all of her had changed. She would be weak if she did change completely.

"Poppy!" Tonks ran towards her and plopped down on the couch. "What'cha doin'?"

"Waiting for Lily," said Poppy. "What about you?" She looked down and saw that Tonks had started writing in a journal. "What are you writing?"

"Nothing," said Tonks, but then she giggled. "Oh all right, I'll let you look, but you can't tell anyone else. Promise?"

"Promise," Poppy sighed, and Tonks let her look down at the journal. All across the two pages that the journal was open to had crudely written cursive. Poppy had to read it carefully before she realized that Tonks had written 'Nymphadora Lupin' all over in bright pink ink. Poppy let out a small laugh. "I take it that you really like Remus."

"I'm going to marry him one day!" Tonks declared, and Poppy couldn't help but smile.

"That's good for you," she said, not knowing what else to say.

"I have to go now," said Tonks suddenly, standing up. "I'll see you at dinner."

"Alright. Have fun."

Tonks nodded before running up the stairs. Poppy rolled her eyes and was about to take a quick nap when Francis came down the stairs.

"What do you want? I was just about to take a nap!" Poppy burst out, and she quickly clapped her hands over her mouth. Her temper was one thing that had changed, but not completely. She was still 'snappy', as Sirius said.

"Nothing. I was just passing through," said Francis, before he gave her a curious look. "Are you waiting for Charlotte?"

Charlotte was a neighbor of Andromeda and Ted's that Poppy had befriended. Charlotte was shy, and even though she never confirmed it, Poppy suspected that her stepfather was beating her. The girl was Poppy's age, and had a job, but her only living family was her stepfather, and he didn't allow her to move away from him for suspicious reasons.

"No, for Lily," said Poppy, and she looked at the clock. "She'll be coming in fifteen minutes."

"Oh," said Francis, pursing his lips. "If Charlotte comes, tell her I said hello. And Lily." Then he left through the front door, most likely going back to London for the rest of the day.

"Uh huh," said Poppy, dragging her tongue against her chapped lips before snorting. "I think he likes Charlotte," she said aloud to no one. It was probably true. Francis had never taken that much interest in a girl, not even Poppy, who he lived with. She thought it was cute (and cute wasn't a word in her daily vocabulary, so he better appreciate it).

The doorbell rang and she got up to answer it. Lily was standing in front of the door, looking very upset and Harry-less.

"What's up with you?" Poppy asked, raising her eyebrow.

"I'll tell you inside," Lily said quickly, and she closed the door behind her as she walked in. They went to the kitchen nook and sat at the table. "There's another part of the prophecy."

"What prophecy?" asked Poppy, her anger starting to flare up. "Nobody told me about any prophecy!"

"No need to get angry, Poppy," said Lily, sighing, and Poppy felt bad. She could tell that whatever this prophecy said, it was obviously bothering her sister. She promised herself that she would keep quiet.

"I'm sorry," said Poppy, the apology easy to say. Apologies never used to be easy, but that was another part of her that changed. She could now forgive and almost forget.

"It's alright. I should've told you when I proved magic to you, but Sirius stole you away so quickly that I couldn't," Lily replied, a small smile on her face. "Anyway, the prophecy, in simple terms, says that Harry has the power to defeat Voldemort."

"The person that gave the prophecy is obviously on something, because a baby can't defeat Voldemort if he's as bad as I was told," Poppy said, shaking her head.

"Well, it might not be right now…" Lily looked unsure and lost in thought. "It doesn't matter, because there's another option. It doesn't have to be Harry."

"Who would take Harry's place?" asked Poppy, bewildered.

Lily hesitated. "You."

"What?" Poppy shrieked. "I'm not a witch!"

"I know," said Lily. "But you have some sort of magic, and maybe you can defeat Voldemort with that magic."

But she wasn't convinced. "That person was definitely on something if he or she thinks that I can defeat Voldemort! God, the guy would probably kill me before I could blink an eye!"

"It's not a sure thing yet," Lily continued, "but Sirius, James and I are very sure that it's you, because you have magic."

"Couldn't it be Petunia?"

"Well, it could, but she's a Muggle. In the prophecy, it said that the one who gave you your magic will die, not you."

"But I don't know where I got my magic! I was born with it! So now, if I take Harry's place, I'll die! I'll die before I get to tell Siri-" Poppy stopped when she realized that she was about to reveal something that she didn't want known yet.

Lily raised her eyebrow. "What did you want to tell Sirius?"

"Uh, um, not- nothing," Poppy stuttered, and Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh alright! You want to know? I'm in love with him!"

Lily gasped, and Poppy let out a deep breath. It was finally out in the open. She loved Sirius Black. She loved him with all of her heart but of course he didn't love her back. She was just Poppy Evans, perfect Lily Potter's younger, ugly sister. She probably meant nothing to him.

_Then why does he always come to visit you? You don't see him out with Lily all the time, do you? _She mentally slapped herself. She didn't want to think about him. It was time to think about the prophecy and what it meant to her.

"I know it's a lot to take in, Poppy," Lily said slowly. "And I don't want you to die, but I don't know what to do anymore. If I was sure you wouldn't die, that'd be great, but I don't."

Poppy closed her eyes briefly. Should she let Harry fulfill his destiny by trying to defeat Voldemort, or should she take his place? He was only a baby, and Poppy had already lived life for twenty years. Maybe she should. It wasn't like she had anything to look forward to anyway. Besides, dying in place of another sounded like a great death, didn't it?

"I'll do it," Poppy finally sighed.

"You'll do what?" asked Lily, confused.

"I'll take Harry's place."

**Okay then! Next chapter is going to be huge! It's going to be James and Lily's "death"! However, I will not be updating until I get at least four reviews for this chapter. So please review!**

**Didn't that last sentence of the last paragraph kind of sound like something from Twilight? "Besides, dying in place of another sounded like a great death, didn't it?" It does to me! It's kind of scary, really, even though I don't hate Twilight.**

**Also, I'd like to thank those who have reviewed or added this story to their favorites or story alerts! It's been a long time since I've written a multi-chaptered story, so I really appreciate the reviews and favorites, because they inspire me to write more! Thanks again, and please review!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Hi! Sorry for not updating, but I was waiting for one more review, before I realized that nobody was going to review, so I decided to update like I said I would. Anyway, here's the chapter!**

"_I'll take Harry's place." _

Poppy swallowed and looked Lily straight in the eyes. "You have my word."

Lily still looked shocked, but after a moment, the shock faded to show immense relief and gratitude. "Thank you so much, Poppy! Thank you…" Her smile got smaller. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have." Then she looked genuinely confused, and Poppy realized that even though Lily was older by a year, she was more innocent than Poppy had been when she was fifteen. "But don't you want to tell Sirius that you love him?"

Poppy shook her head, and gave Lily a small smile. "Sometimes, when you love someone, you have to let them go."

The redheaded woman felt a tear slip down her cheek. "That's the wisest thing I've ever heard you say."

"And it's the last," said Poppy, her voice hardening. "If I'm gonna take Harry's place, I might as well go to your place now."

Lily nodded slowly, gulping. "Let's go then."

* * *

><p>Three weeks later, it's Halloween, and Poppy is still numb. She's been numb since she was brought to Godric's Hollow. Nothing could cheer her up. Of course, this was what she had wanted. To protect Harry, and take his place so he could live as a normal wizard boy with his loving parents. And Poppy? Well, she was waiting for her imminent death.<p>

And it was taking forever. Where was this stupid Lord Voldemort? Did he know that she was practically going insane just waiting for her death? Was he doing this to her on purpose? Because if he was, and he thought it was a joke, she didn't think it was very funny. In fact, if this Voldemort guy didn't kill her right away, she'd love to have a conversation with his face with her fists first. Give him a nice knuckle sandwich before she died. That'd be nice.

She snorted and looked out the window at the quiet town. This was why she liked cities better. Quiet made her think about how disappointing her life looked to other people. Cities were loud and very good for distracting her from introspective thoughts.

It would have been nice to talk, but she had let James and Lily take Harry out for a little bit to a place called Diagon Alley. She still didn't know too much about the wizarding world, but that was fine. She'd be dead soon anyway.

She looked over at the clock above the picture frame containing a family photo of James, Lily and Harry. It was four o'clock. For some reason, she got a chill just looking at the time. She had no idea why.

Usually, when her instincts told her that something was up, there was something up. But it was four o'clock, and as she looked out the window, she saw a group of six kids walking down the street in their costumes. She stared at them for a minute, taking note of their happiness and their laughter that she could not hear. Poppy had never celebrated Halloween.

Her thoughts turned bitter as she started thinking about all of the festivities that she had been robbed of in the foster home. Halloween had been nothing but a holiday that kids on the outside had celebrated. Christmas had been a holiday that most workers at the foster home took off, which made some workers angry, because they couldn't all go home. Easter had been a stupid holiday with a nonexistent "Easter Bunny" and Valentine's Day was nothing but a day for lovey dovey things and chocolates and heartbreak.

Poppy let out an unladylike grunt before getting up and walking down the hall that was filled with a bunch of moving pictures of Lily, James, Harry and Sirius. There were some of Remus and Peter, and James, Sirius, Remus and Peter together, but out of the three, it was mostly Sirius, holding Harry in almost all of them that he wasn't with his friends in.

She smiled slightly. He would make a good father, Sirius would. But then her smile fell. He'd never know. But just like she had told Lily, she would let him go. It wasn't meant to be anyway. Could you imagine it? Such a handsome, happy man like him with an ugly girl who still had nightmares and was forever haunted and guarded. It was horrible to process, but Sirius would never be hers. But she was his, even if he didn't know it. Forever.

One more thing. He made her soft. Weak. Love was for the weak. And he'd practically shot her with a gun full of it, because now look at her. She was thinking about how much she loved him! It screamed weakness. She could never forgive him for breaking down all the walls that she had created to protect herself. It was unforgivable.

She continued walking through the hall to the guest room, where she resided. Her humble abode. She snickered at the thought. The only room she's ever had that hasn't been ruined by her magic. Her numbness has left her void of any feelings for the past couple of weeks, and if she doesn't have any emotions, there's no damage. The numbness has taken her worry away temporarily, and death would be the cure. No one should have to worry that the person they live with is a potential killer because of her dangerous emotion-controlled magic. One victim was already enough.

She was brought back to the real world when she heard voices in the foyer. James and Lily. They were back.

She sighed in relief and went to greet them, thankful for the distraction from her thoughts. They were starting to turn dark, which they haven't for a couple months. Except for in dreams.

"Hey, Poppy," said James, smiling at her and pushing up his glasses, which were as lopsided as ever, and Poppy rolled her eyes.

"Hi," she said, and she turned to Lily. "Hey." Then she smiled at Harry. "How're you, little Harry?" He gurgled in response, and she winked at Lily. "Exactly the kinds of noises that James made until he was fifteen, probably."

James laughed. "Did not! Well, actually I did, but it was only because Sirius and I were babysitting Dora!"

"Dora?" asked Poppy, raising an eyebrow.

"Tonks," James replied. "You know, the one who hates being called Nymphadora."

"Little Tonksidora," said Poppy, snickering. "I know that she'll absolutely hate that nickname."

"Clever," James said, winking, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Don't encourage him, Poppy, please," said Lily, shaking her head at her sister and husband's foolishness.

"Sorry Lils, but my Marauderish self is back after being awakened from the loveliness that is Poppy," said James cheekily, and both sisters rolled their eyes, while Harry let out a small giggle.

"I thought that I was Lovely Lily." Lily pretended to pout and look jealous.

"Fine, I have been awakened by the snarky Poppy Evans," James amended, and he gave Lily a quick kiss on the cheek before starting to leave the kitchen. "I'm gonna go sleep for a few hours. You're welcome to join me if you want, Lils." He waggled his eyebrows at Lily, and she rolled her eyes again.

"You go join him," said Poppy, grinning. "I'm gonna take a walk and give you two your privacy."

"Alright," said Lily, blushing. "Thank you."

"Yup," Poppy said, and she looked down at Harry. "It's time for his nap, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Lily. "I'll put him back in his room first." She started to walk away when she turned around and winked. "Oh, by the way, Happy Halloween, Poppy."

"You too," Poppy said, sounding a bit awkward. Nobody had ever told her Happy Halloween before. "Thanks."

"Your welcome," Lily said, and as she disappeared down the hall with Harry, Poppy couldn't help but feel like it would be the last time she'd see the redhead.

Poppy went to the closet and took out her navy blue jacket. She looked down at herself and realized that she was wearing all blue today, but she didn't care. It could be her last day anyway. That feeling in her gut still hadn't gone away.

She put on black flats, and to her embarrassment, they showed her pink polka dot socks that she had borrowed from Charlotte. Poppy wondered how the poor girl was doing. Francis was probably keeping her company. That thought made Poppy smile a bit.

She went out the front door, making sure to lock it before heading out onto the street, where more little kids walked by her in costumes. Some parents smiled at her, knowing that she was 'that dear Lily Potter's sister.'

She walked on, past the main part of Godric's Hollow, and towards the park, that was old and dead because of the colder weather. But to her, it was a nice place to sit and relax. The sun was just going down, and she could enjoy for a little while. Besides, she did not want to be in the house while James and Lily were… doing stuff.

_Better watch out, Harry, or you might have a brother or sister soon, _Poppy snickered to herself. She was going to bet that its name would be either Violet or Andrew.

"Hey Poppy!"

She nearly had a heart attack when Sirius's loud and happy voice spoke from behind her.

"Oh _God, _Sirius!" She gaped at him, trying to catch her breath. "You practically scared me to death, you git!"

She glared at him as he laughed uncontrollably for what seemed like five minutes.

"Are you done laughing at me yet? You do realize that I have to go back soon, right?" Poppy crossed her arms over her chest.

"Not yet, Pops," said Sirius, taking a bouquet of flowers from behind his back and holding it in front of her. "Happy Halloween."

The bouquet, in Poppy's opinion, looked like it had been set on fire and then stomped on numerous times, she raised her eyebrow at him.

"It looks like somebody died on it, Sirius," she said bluntly, and to her surprise, he looked sheepish.

"Technical difficulties on the way," he admitted, and she raised her eyebrow. "I'd rather not say."

She rolled her eyes and took the bouquet, appreciating the gesture anyway. "Thank you."

"Your welcome, Miss Evans," said Sirius, smirking at her and holding out his hand in a gentlemanly way. "Would you like to walk with me?"

"Only for a couple minutes," she said, she looked at him curiously. "Why?"

"Because I have something important to tell you," he said, smiling suavely at her, and she felt her heart start to beat faster, much to her annoyance and excitement.

"Like what?" she asked, impatience starting to seep into her voice.

"Patience," Sirius said teasingly, and they started down through the depressing park. She had a grimace on her face for most of the walk until he took her hand, and she tensed. What was he going to do? Propose? She almost laughed at the thought of marriage. Marriage was for people who deserved it. Which wasn't her.

They stopped in front of a cold, empty bench, where she immediately sat to the far right, trying to pull her hand out of Sirius's. Whatever he was going to do, she knew that it couldn't be good.

"Poppy," Sirius started, seeming uncharacteristically hesitant, "I need to tell you something."

"No duh," she said sarcastically, and then letting out a nervous laugh.

"I'm being totally serious, by the way, just in case you think I'm joking," he added, and then he let out a deep breath. "I love you."

She stared at him, not knowing what to do, or what to feel. Should she be relieved? Or should she shake her head and laugh at him? She knew that he didn't know that she was planning on sacrificing herself for Harry. He thought that she was staying with James and Lily for protection, just in case Voldemort found out about her.

"Poppy?" he asked, waving his hands in front of her face and grinning. "So happy that you can't speak?"

Poppy snapped out of her trance, and she, even though it pained her too much for words to describe, shook her head. "No."

"What do you mean by no?" he asked, running a hand through his perfect black curls anxiously.

"You can't. You can't love me," she said, starting to get more angry and hurt and overwhelmed at the same time. "What's there to love about me? Nothing. Nothing at all."

"That's not true-" he said when she interrupted him harshly.

"And another thing? I don't love you! And I never will!" she shouted, her heart breaking with every word, especially when she saw the heartbroken look in his gray eyes. She looked away to gather herself before glaring at him angrily. "And you're probably just using me anyway, to get to Lily! She's the one you really want. Pretty, kind, lovely. Lovely Lily."

"I don't love Lily, Poppy!" Sirius protested. "James would kill me if I did. I love you, Poppy Evans, and I know that you love me too!"

"And how do you know that?" she roared. "You're just assuming because every girl within a five mile radius falls at your feet means that I will too? Well, guess what! You're wrong! I'm not one of those blonde-haired bimbos! I'm an ugly murderer! Drug dealer! Everything bad in the world, I am that! Not everything, but a lot of things! So just stop, Sirius Black! I'm not going to fall into your arms like the others! I'm Poppy Evans, and even though I don't deserve much, I know that I don't deserve to be used! Which you'll do if I stay." Her voice cracked, and she fought to keep the tears in her eyes. She couldn't look at him. She couldn't bear it. She'd die. So she ran. After all, that was what she was best at.

As she ran through Godric's Hollow, she could think of a billion ways why they were wrong together. He was a wizard. She was just a Muggle. Why would he ever want a non-magical girl like her?

She went and sat near the cemetery for what was probably a couple hours, until the sun went down and the streetlights turned on. She got up from her lonely spot at the bench and went back to James and Lily's. But when she was almost at the house, she noticed a cloaked figure walking towards their house. Her heart stopped in her chest. Was this Voldemort? Was it finally time to give herself up for Harry? Her gut told her yes. She wanted to run towards him and tell him to kill her, but she found that she couldn't move. She was frozen in fear.

Voldemort blasted the front door down, but as soon as he did, the house completely disappeared. Poppy gasped. Then she remembered that the house would only disappear to Muggles if magic was detected in or outside. Thankfully, her magic was able to make the house visible to her.

As soon as he disappeared inside the house, she knew that she had to do something. But she didn't want to die. Not when she had left Sirius in the way that she did. Heartbroken. But his wasn't the only one. And now, she realized that there was something in life worth living for: him. And she'd do anything to tell him that she was lying to him.

But before she could do that, her only option to get out of the prophecy was to kill Voldemort. Muggle style.

From what she heard of this Lord Voldemort, he didn't think that Muggles could do anything. That they were helpless creatures. She smirked cruelly. He was wrong. If he spent a little more time learning about Muggles than spitting on them, he'd know that Muggles were extremely dangerous when they wanted to be. She didn't care if she wasn't a witch. She was a Muggle, bloody proud of it too, and she was going to kill Voldemort.

She put her hand in her pocket, and to her luck, her gun was there. She had never taken it out. Just in case. Now, it would come into good use. She cocked it and held it behind her back as she entered the house slowly, only a few seconds behind Voldemort. As soon as she saw him turn the corner into the living room, she ran after him, knowing that James would be there, ready to defend the house and protect Lily and Harry.

She turned the corner into the living room and saw Voldemort pointing his wand at James, and he yelled as he flew back into the wall, almost unconscious. Her anger bubbled, and the magic was flowing through her veins, but she didn't notice, and she held the gun up, ready to shoot.

"Poppy!" James shouted weakly, and as soon as Voldemort turned around to look at her, her anger boiled so hot inside her that she screamed, and he raised his wand at her and was saying, "Avada Kedav-" when the energy burst from inside her and she pulled the trigger.

***Hides in a corner***** Please don't hate me for that cliffhanger! It was necessary! Anyway, I'll hopefully be updating on Thursday night! And, Muggle power! I honestly hate when wizards think that Muggles are helpless. Also, did anyone notice that Poppy called herself a murderer? Be sure to keep reading if you want to find out why! If there are any grammatical errors, please excuse them! I don't have any more time to proofread it! Also, any suggestions of names for a girl Potter? ;) Please review! Reviews mean love, and love means that I'll try to update more often! **


	11. Chapter 10

**Hello! Thanks for reviewing! I woke up at five fifteen on Tuesday morning to see three, and then four, wonderful reviews, plus two more for another story, so thank you! And then two more for this story again! Thanks! Without further ado, here's the next chapter! **

"_Poppy!" James shouted weakly, and as soon as Voldemort turned around to look at her, her anger boiled so hot inside her that she screamed, and he raised his wand at her and was saying, "Avada Kedav-" when the energy burst from inside her and she pulled the trigger. _

The gunshot rang in the thick air, as Lord Voldemort fell to the ground, his bloody face facing her. The bullet had shot through his nose and into his brain. But there was something else. His skin was faintly glowing. She looked at her hand, which was still raised, the gun still held tightly in it, and her eyes widened when she saw that her hand was also glowing. It wasn't just the bullet that had killed Voldemort. The magic. The energy that had been flowing through her when she shot him. That killed him too.

"Poppy…" James said, his voice weak, and she knew that he didn't have much longer until he passed out. "You did it. You killed him." With those last words, his head fell back against the wall gently, and she knew that he would be fine. He'd be up and running in a couple hours, at the least.

She didn't even realize that she had dropped the gun at her feet. She was still in shock. She couldn't stop staring at the wizard that she had just killed. She couldn't pull her eyes away.

After a minute of staring, she heard footsteps down the hall, and she sighed in relief. Lily.

"James!" Lily ran to her husband, and was about to kneel onto the ground to lift him up when she turned and saw a dead Voldemort on the ground and Poppy. "Poppy? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," said Poppy, stepping around Voldemort's body to help Lily pick James up.

"No, no, let me," said Lily, taking out her wand. "Wingardium leviosa!" She lifted James above the couch and gently set him down before turning to Poppy again. "What happened here?"

"I killed him," said Poppy simply. "It's over."

"Uh, Poppy, why are you glowing?" Lily asked, sounding worried. "Wait, you're not anymore."

"What?" Poppy looked down at her hand and saw that it wasn't glowing, but all of a sudden, a dizzy feeling came over her, and she swayed, almost hitting the wall.

"Poppy!" Lily's voice was muffled as the world around Poppy shifted, and the last thing she remembered was seeing Lily's panicked face when everything started to fade away.

* * *

><p>Her eyes fluttered open slowly, only to immediately sit up, back straight as a board, her brilliant blue eyes alert. Sounds were muffled as she tried listening around her, and her eyes were trying to get used to the bright white room she was in. It was rather large, at least in her eyes, and as they adjusted, she noticed that there were two people standing near the window. As soon as she caught sight of fiery red hair, she knew that it was Lily.<p>

"Li- Lily," said Poppy, her voice hoarse. "Where am I?"

"St. Mungo's," Lily answered gently, walking over to Poppy's bedside. "Basically, the wizard equivalent of a hospital."

"Great," said Poppy, rolling her eyes. "A bunch of people doing magic that I don't know about, so who knows what they could be doing to me?"

"They've given you a pain-relief potion. You twisted your ankle when you fell."

"What else is wrong with me?" asked Poppy, before remembering Voldemort. "Where'd they bring his body?"

"I don't know," Lily said, shaking her head. "And honestly, I can't really bring myself to care. He's dead now, and he can't hurt anybody. But as for you, you'll be released in a couple hours. The potion made you sleep for a little while, to help your body fully heal itself."

"Good," said Poppy, leaning back against her pillows. "So, your wizarding war is over?"

"For now," said Lily, smiling slightly. "But we still have Death Eaters that need to be taken to Azkaban. James and the other Aurors will no doubt be busy these next few months."

"Aurors?"

"They're kind of like wizard police officers," said Lily.

"Speaking of Aurors, I'm sorry Lily, but I have to go," said James, giving Lily a quick kiss on the cheek. "Sirius said that Frank and Alice have been captured by Death Eaters."

"Oh my God!" Lily gasped, and Poppy felt a sense of dread. She knew that Frank and Alice Longbottom were good friends of James and Lily.

"Hope you feel better, Poppy," said James, giving her a small smile before Disapparating on the spot.

Poppy turned to Lily, who started to pace. "They'll be fine, Lily. You said that they were both great Aurors. They won't let those Death Eaters kill them."

"I know, I know, but some of them are really malicious. If Bellatrix Lestrange is there, Alice and Frank won't be shown any mercy. Bellatrix has it out for them," said Lily, nibbling on her bottom lip nervously.

"They'll be fine, Lils," Poppy assured her sister. "Maybe."

"Maybe doesn't help," said Lily, shaking her head. "But there's nothing we can do but hope for the best. Besides, James and I have to think about moving back into the Manor."

"The what?" Poppy sputtered. "You have a manor?"

"Yes, Potter Manor," answered Lily, smirking slightly at Poppy's reaction. "It was James's parents' manor, and we lived there before we had to go into hiding in Godric's Hollow."

"Okay. But where am I going to live? Are you saying that you want me back with Francis?" Poppy felt a bit betrayed. Not that she didn't like Francis, but she had grown used to living with James, Lily and Harry. She would miss the company. And as for a job, once again, nobody would hire her in the Muggle world.

But what about the wizarding world?

She killed Voldemort, so they owed her a favor, didn't they? She risked her life to kill someone who had killed plenty of their own. They had to hire her for some job. The wizarding world was her second chance.

She smiled, and Lily gave her a curious look, but she just kept smiling on. For the first time in a long, long time, Poppy Evans had a chance to start over and make things right with her life.

* * *

><p>Two days later, Poppy was sitting by the fire inside the living room at Potter Manor, with the TV blaring across the room from her. James and Harry were on the couch, and Lily was in the kitchen, making dinner. It was relaxing to Poppy. She had just finished talking to James about a job in the wizarding world, and he had suggested working in the Ministry. He told her that she was the topic of everyone's conversation there. More like everywhere.<p>

Just yesterday, wizard and witch reporters had been knocking on the door of Potter Manor, all begging to have an interview with the famous Poppy Evans, the Muggle who killed the Dark Lord.

And now, she truly was a Muggle. Her magic had gone as soon as she had killed Voldemort. She didn't know why, but it did. It was a mystery to be solved. But it was still curious. Why did it suddenly disappear? Not that she missed having magic, because of the awful things it could do to others and the effect on herself, but it was strange not having to worry about anything. She always had something to worry about. Multiple things at one time, actually. Now, her only two worries were getting a job and Sirius Black.

Speaking of Sirius. Poppy sighed deeply. She hadn't heard from him since Halloween. She felt awful about breaking his heart, but what was she supposed to do? Give in to him when she knew that she was going to die anyway? If he thought she was being selfish, well, she wasn't. She was doing him a favor.

But now, Voldemort was gone, and Poppy was free. She was on the right track to getting the life that she had been robbed of the day that she was put in the foster home. She could love him. She would love him.

She stood up quickly, making James almost drop Harry from his arms.

"Where are you going?" he asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"I need to see Sirius. Can you tell him to come here using that animal thing?" asked Poppy quickly.

"Patronus? Sure. Wait a second." James picked up his wand from the table and with a flick of his wrist, a white stag appeared in front of Poppy, facing James. After a few seconds, the stag jumped from its place, went through Poppy, and practically flew out the window to give the message to Sirius.

"Now what?" Poppy asked, flicking her dirty blonde hair out of her face.

"Now, we wait for Sirius to respond," said James, sitting down again. "When you see a large dog Patronus, you know it's Sirius."

"Okay th-" Poppy was cut off when a huge dog went through the window and barked loudly.

"I'm on my way with Remus and Peter," the dog said with Sirius's voice before disappearing.

"Meet them out on the front porch," James said, winking. "And send Remus and Peter inside so you can get some alone time with Sirius."

"How did you know?" asked Poppy, looking at him as if he had struck her before she sighed. "Am I that obvious?"

"Well…" James trailed off, laughing. "Yes, but also because Sirius and Lily told me."

"Oh." Poppy wrinkled her nose at the thought of what else Sirius had told James, but she shook her head and decided to go out and meet him. "I'll send them in."

"Thanks," said James, and she responded with a nod, walking through the large house out to the porch, where she could see that the sun was just barely visible over the trees that were a considerably far distance from Potter Manor.

Poppy's heart started beating faster, knowing that the moment she would tell Sirius that she loved him was coming closer with each passing second. She knew that rejection was possible, since she had run away from him last time, pretty much telling him that he was using her to get to Lily, that he was a man-whore, etc. Yeah, her chances were looking very slim. But if he really loved her, he'd take her, right?

A moment later, Sirius, Remus and Peter appeared in front of her, causing her to jump in shock. Remus looked apologetic, and Peter looked shy, as usual, but Sirius was smirking. Maybe he wasn't as heartbroken as she thought he would be. And somehow, that was both relieving and angering to Poppy. Maybe he knew that he would have a chance. But maybe it was just a game to him. He didn't really love her.

Remus noticed her glaring at Sirius, and he quickly dragged Peter into the Manor with him. Poppy still glared.

"What?" Sirius asked, sounding genuinely confused, and she slapped him across the face. "Hey! What was that for?"

"I knew it!" Poppy screeched, tears threatening to pour from her eyes. "It was all just a joke to you! You didn't really love me! Of course! What did I expect from a man-whore like y-"

Her words were cut off when he kissed her swiftly on the lips. She almost kissed him back when she remembered what she was saying, and she shoved him off of her and gave him an angrier glare.

"Stop that! You have no right to do that! You insufferable git! You-"

"Poppy!" Sirius shouted, shaking her shoulders to get her to stop. "You didn't let me explain-"

"Explain what? That it's all just a game?" Poppy's lip quivered, and she felt her anger fade away to sorrow. "And I thought I loved you. I guess not. All the changing I went through to be a more pleasant person didn't help at all."

"Poppy, you didn't need to change. I love the sarcasm, how snarky you are, and yeah, sometimes you're a bit of a brat, but who isn't? I'm not looking for a saint like Lovely Lily. You're Poppy Evans, Muggle, killer of Voldemort, and I love you."

She couldn't believe he just said that. She couldn't believe it. He loved her! He loved her. So, she only did what was logical. She kissed him as the sun went down, as the crickets started singing, and while it seemed romantic, it wasn't, because they kept bumping noses and knocking each other's teeth, but somehow, that only made the moment more perfect than it was.

**Well, I'm not a fan of this chapter, but I like the ending! Anyway, next chapter, Poppy gets a job, Lily's you-know-what (and if you don't know, read the next chapter!), and Sirius dresses up as Santa? What? Hahahahaha! Also, in later chapters, you'll be finding out why Poppy's magic disappeared after she killed Voldemort, and why she considers herself a murderer, besides Voldemort's killing! Please review!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Okay, so I'm a bit disappointed with the lack of reviews for the last chapter, but I'll live. So I've decided to update for the second to last time before my spring break ends! Here's the chapter! **

It was a week before Christmas, and Poppy Evans was happier than ever. She's been dating Sirius Black for a month, and she's never been happier. Life with him is like a roller coaster that twists and turns but never goes down. Instead, it climbs higher and higher into the sky. And if the rest of her life was going to be like this, well, she was only glad to glue herself onto the seat.

She was still staying at Potter Manor with James and Lily, and even though she was ready to move in with Sirius, she knew that they had to marry first.

Wow. She had never thought of herself as the type to get married. But now, that was all she could think about. After everything that had happened to her, she was ready to settle down. Amazing.

She was happy with herself. Yeah, she wasn't the prettiest flower of the bunch, and she was more sarcastic than necessary, but he loved her, and that made her glad that she was herself.

She wasn't one to express too much happiness, though, so most of the time, she expressed her cynical outlook of the world, but Lily said that she knew that Poppy was happy because of the look in her eyes. It was almost too sentimental for her to handle.

"Poppy!" Lily smiled and walked over to Poppy, who was sitting at the kitchen table, her hands clasped together tightly.

"What?" asked Poppy, sighing and looking up at Lily, flashing her a brief smile.

"Have you said yes to any of them yet?" Lily asked, referring to the five job offers that she had gotten over the month. Yes, that's right. Poppy had five job offers! They were all from the Ministry of Magic, and most were from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, from different offices. She was psyched that they had all offered her a job, but one stood out to her: the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.

Lily told her that it was the least respected office in all of the Ministry, and the only two employees were the Head of the Office, Arthur Weasley, and his assistant, Perkins. And that was exactly why Poppy liked it.

It would be a nice, quiet job. After all, Poppy was a Muggle, and she knew about 'Muggle artifacts.' This would be perfect.

"Yeah. I just sent my reply with your owl, Morley," Poppy replied, letting out a nervous laugh. "They won't change their minds on me, will they?"

"I doubt it." Lily thought for a moment. "Well, I guess it depends. Who'd you say yes to?"

"The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office," said Poppy, and Lily let out a noise that sounding like she was choking but laughing at the same time. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, nothing, Poppy," said Lily, trying to contain her laughter. "I doubt they'll turn you down, though, considering there's only two of them in that office."

"But what's so funny about me joining them, huh?" asked Poppy, starting to get angry. "At least I'm getting a job!"

"Poppy, I'm not saying that you shouldn't get a job, but I'm warning you about that office. They're not held in high regard, and they get a small salary. I'm making more than what you'll get when you start working, and I'm on maternity leave from St. Mungo's," said Lily.

"You work at the hospital?" Poppy asked, surprised. She had no idea. But it explained why the nurses, or Healers, as they were called, that were there had talked to Lily before doing their jobs. "I can see you as a Healer."

Lily smiled. "Well, at least James can bring you to the Ministry everyday. And you'll see Sirius there too, because they're both Aurors."

Poppy grinned at that. "See? This job is already turning out to be pretty good. Now, when it's my first day, all I have to worry about is finding my way to the office. And I might need James to help me, because what if there are some magical thingies that I need to get through, but I can't because I don't have magic?"

"James will help you, don't worry. I've only been in the Ministry a few times, but not where people work. Just in the Atrium," said Lily, and she looked up at the clock. "Time to feed Harry. Wanna help?"

"Sure," said Poppy, and they started walking faster when Harry could be heard from upstairs, crying and screaming for food.

* * *

><p>"Thanks for bringing me, James. I know you probably have better things to do, like getting to work on time," said Poppy as they strode through the crowded Atrium.<p>

"Nah, it's fine. I've been getting on my boss's nerves for months now. Makes no sense to stop right now before Christmas," said James, grinning and running a hand through his messy black hair.

"So you'll behave again as a Christmas present?" Poppy asked, amused. "That ought to give the guy enough happiness to sing show tunes for a year."

"Actually, her name is Madam Amelia Bones, and she's the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I really shouldn't be giving her a long time, but hey, I know her from school. She'll cut me some slack. Besides, I almost got killed by Voldemort," James said, smiling confidently. "And I'm brother-in-law to the Savior of the Wizarding World."

"That's what they're calling me?" asked Poppy, astonished, as they got into the elevator. "My God, they might as well have called me a goddess."

"Oh! Are you Poppy Evans?" an elderly man with fluffy white hair asked from behind them.

Poppy nodded, wondering if this was the assistant of Arthur Weasley from the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.

"Thank goodness! I found you! I thought it'd take me hours to find you! And hello, Mr. Potter!" the assistant said, a relieved and tired smile on his face.

"Hello, Perkins," James said, smiling slightly. "How are you?"

"I believe the question is how are you, James? You were the one who faced You-Know-Who!"

"I'm fine. Could've been better back then, though." James laughed a bit before turning to Poppy. "Alright, you follow him to your office. I've got to go. See you later." He walked out of the elevator just as the doors began to close, and Poppy felt awkward standing in an elevator with someone she didn't know.

"I'm sure you'll love it here," Perkins rambled, and Poppy bit her lip to keep from letting out an exasperated sigh. "Sure, we're not the most popular of offices here, but it's fun job, and I'll be retiring soon anyway, now that there's someone to take my place. I'll admit, I was a bit surprised when the Savior accepted a job in our office, but I'm glad you did. It'll bring good luck to us, and-"

He stopped as soon as the elevator turned a sharp right and then shot straight up again, and Poppy shrieked as she fell back against the wall.

"Is there something wrong with the elevator?" she asked him.

He shook his head, looking completely calm. Poppy hoped that the elevator rides wouldn't always be like this. They probably would, with her luck, but she would try to get used to this.

After another minute of the second part of the elevator ride, they stopped and they got out, to Poppy's relief, but she was just starting to get a headache.

"Alright, Miss Evans, follow me. This is where all the divisions of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement are, and here-" Perkins stopped at the end of the long hallway to open the door for Poppy, "-is where the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office is."

The office was small, so tiny that it was not much bigger than Poppy's old bedroom had been when she lived with Francis and the boys. Towards the back wall was a large desk with a red-haired man sitting at it, focusing intently on his work. But as soon as Perkins closed the door behind him, he looked up and gave her a tired smile before getting up to greet her.

"And you must be Poppy Evans, our savior," he said kindly. "And a Muggle. Now, tell me, how does a gun work? I heard that you used this so-called gun to kill You-Know-Who."

Poppy bit her lip nervously. He didn't even introduce himself yet, and he was already asking about how a gun works. But this was her new boss, so she might as well get used to him. "Hello, Mr. Weasley. Um, a gun is-"

"Oh no, you can just call me Arthur, Miss Evans. And please, sit down." Arthur backed away to clear a chair of a stack of papers before setting it in front of his desk.

"I'm going to go give that message to Madam Bones now, Arthur," said Perkins.

"Alright. Be careful, there's a lot of traffic at this time!" Arthur called after his assistant jokingly. "Now, Miss Evans-"

"You can just call me Poppy," she said, and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Alright then, Poppy. But do tell. How do you make a gun work? What do you do? Do you have to press a certain button to get a gun to work? And what does a gun shoot out of itself? Does it shoot knives? Is there a gun that can shoot fire?"

Poppy held up her hand to get him to stop asking more questions. "I'll try to answer these as best as I can for you. You pull a trigger to make a gun work. A gun shoots a bullet, and while bullets aren't that sharp, the gun shoots it out so quickly that it goes through a body, or anything that you shoot the bullet through. Guns do not shoot knives, and yes, a gun that shoots fire is more commonly known as a flamethrower."

Arthur looked fascinated. "Incredible!"

Poppy couldn't help but smile. She already liked her new boss.

"How about work first, then? That's what you came for. But, I can't pass up the opportunity, so would you like to have dinner at our house tonight? I can ask you about more Muggle objects. They're just fascinating! And I can bring you to the Burrow. We'll Apparate there."

She nodded and laughed. "Sure, sure! I just need to tell James and Lily first."

"James and Lily Potter?" he asked.

"Yeah, Lily's my sister," said Poppy.

"I know Lily and James. They talked to me about joining the Order of the Phoenix, but I declined because I thought it would bring too much danger to Molly and our kids," Arthur replied, and Poppy admired him already.

"Work then?"

"Yes, like that Muggle saying, 'Work hard, play hard,'" Arthur quoted, looking proud of himself for knowing the saying. "That's right, isn't it? I said it right?"

"Well, there's no wrong way to say it, because there are plenty of different versions. A little too much for me to handle. You'll find that Muggles are very complicated, strange and annoying," said Poppy, slipping back into her cynical mindset.

"I still think they're fascinating."

"Only because you don't know the bad side." Poppy raised her eyebrow. "You'll find eventually that Muggles aren't as great as they seem. I'm a twenty year old Muggle and I've seen things that you've never seen and will never see, and trust me when I say that they're things that no one should ever see."

Arthur looked like he would disagree. "I've seen the war, and while it may seem like it's not true, I've seen things too, and all wizards my age are scarred by them."

Poppy smirked slightly, impressed. "It seems like we'll get along well, then."

* * *

><p>At the end of the work day, Poppy took Arthur's arm and they Apparated to the Burrow, which was a tall home that Poppy knew wouldn't have stayed together if it weren't for magic. It looked like if she touched it, the whole home would fall down, it was so precariously built. And somehow, it had a homey feel to it. She was relaxed.<p>

"Well, this is home," said Arthur, proudly gesturing to it. "The Burrow."

"Nice place," said Poppy, a bit sarcastically in the sense that it wasn't fancy, but then again, she wasn't a fancy type of person.

"Thank you," said Arthur, oblivious to how she responded. "I'll be right back. I have to go check on something. When you walk in, Molly will be there to meet you."

"Okay," said Poppy, and she walked through the front door into the house, where she immediately saw a short, plump and kind-looking red-haired woman. "Hello."

"You must be Poppy," the woman said, walking towards her with open arms before wrapping them around Poppy's taller and skinnier frame. "I've heard great things about you."

"From who? I've only met Arthur today!" said Poppy, surprised.

"You're the Savior, darling," Molly said, smiling. "Everyone knows about you. Even my youngest son does, and he's only nine months old! He recognizes your name and claps when he hears your name around the house!"

Poppy couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed by the fact that everyone was talking about her. Was she really so special to have killed Voldemort and be a Muggle? Was it really that hard to kill him? And seriously, to be so famous to be known by a nine month old was a bit frightening.

Molly seemed to sense what Poppy was thinking, because she smiled reassuringly and lead her towards the kitchen, where she saw the baby that Molly had been talking about.

"So, this is my biggest fan?" Poppy asked, laughing.

"Yes, this is Ronald, or Ron, as the children have taken to calling him," said Molly, picking Ron up and holding him in her arms lovingly.

"He's about the same age as my sister's son, Harry. They should play sometime," Poppy suggested, knowing how sad Lily was that they had no neighbors with children.

"That's a wonderful idea!" exclaimed Molly. "Lily's a lovely girl, and James is charming." Suddenly, there was a crash from one of the upper levels of the house, and Molly's face turned bright red. "William and Charles Weasley, get down here now!"

"Coming, Mum!" one of them yelled, and Poppy was amused. She wondered what could've caused a crash so loud. She had only one word to explain it: magic.

"Bill, Charlie, meet Poppy Evans," said Molly as soon as two red-haired boys, one tall and slim and the other shorter and stockier, came into the kitchen.

They both nodded at her before looking at their mother, looking nervous.

"Alright then, go sit down. We'll be eating dinner when your father comes inside," said Molly, and Bill and Charlie were taking their seats at the table when Molly said, "Oh, could you go get Percy and the twins from upstairs, please?"

"Yes, Mum," said Bill, with Charlie at his heels.

"My God, how many kids do you have?" asked Poppy. They had to have had at least six kids.

"Six, with the seventh on the way," said Molly. "I'm hoping it's a girl. Arthur says that the Weasley family hasn't had a girl in generations!"

"Uh, cool," Poppy said, not really knowing what to say. "I guess I should say congratulations then, for being on the way to your seventh child."

"Thank you, dear," the older woman said, smiling kindly, before they went to the dining room, where all the Weasleys had gathered.

Poppy was amazed by how well Molly could cook. It was like she had eaten for the first time. Not that Lily was bad, but she couldn't compare to Molly Weasley.

All during dinner, she answered whatever questions Arthur had for her about Muggles, and she answered any questions that Bill, Charlie and Percy had for her about killing Voldemort, who they called You-Know-Who.

It was after dinner, and Poppy and the Weasleys were sitting in the living room, when Sirius's Patronus came running into the house, barking so loudly that Percy started crying and Bill and Charlie backed up against Arthur.

"Poppy! Guess what!" the dog said in Sirius's voice. "Lily's pregnant!"

**Yay, Lily's pregnant! Anyway, next chapter is Christmas, and yes, for anyone who's wondering if Sirius and Poppy will get married, they will, but because I've never been to a wedding, which is sad, because I'm fourteen (is that a surprise?), and the personalities of Sirius and Poppy, don't count on a traditional wedding with a white dress and all. I'd love to be able to write a wedding scene for them, but I don't know what going to a wedding is like, and I don't know what the vows are, so it's just too complicated for me. Also, there'll be more of the Weasleys in the future, along with baby!Ron and baby!Harry fun! And more of the Tonks family and Remus and Peter (don't worry, Mr. Pettigrew won't be fine for long). And of course, Sirius! Anyway, please review! **


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